CVE-2025-23163

System hang via recursive VLAN device locking

Published May 1, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026

Improper locking in Linux kernel VLAN handling allows local users to hang the system by opening a specially configured network device. During bond enslaving, vlan_dev_open propagates ALLMULTI or PROMISC to the real device and dev_set_allmulti attempts to reacquire the device lock already held by dev_open. Local access able to create and enslave VLAN and bond links is required; the recursive lock can deadlock the kernel and halt host service.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.15%
Next 30 days · Sep 17, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Improper locking in Linux kernel VLAN handling allows local users to hang the system by opening a specially configured network device. During bond enslaving, vlan_dev_open propagates ALLMULTI or PROMISC to the real device and dev_set_allmulti attempts to reacquire the device lock already held by dev_open. Local access able to create and enslave VLAN and bond links is required; the recursive lock can deadlock the kernel and halt host service.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-23163
Published
May 1, 2025
Updated
May 11, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-667, T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 1, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. May 11, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=2.6.23
  2. Affected versionversion=6c78dcbd47a68a7d25d2bee7a6c74b9136cb5fde <27b918007d96402aba10ed52a6af8015230f1793
  3. Affected versionversion=6c78dcbd47a68a7d25d2bee7a6c74b9136cb5fde <299d7d27af6b5844cda06a0fdfa635705e1bc50f
  4. Affected versionversion=6c78dcbd47a68a7d25d2bee7a6c74b9136cb5fde <523fa0979d842443aa14b80002e45b471cbac137
  5. Affected versionversion=6c78dcbd47a68a7d25d2bee7a6c74b9136cb5fde <538b43aa21e3b17c110104efd218b966d2eda5f8
  6. Affected versionversion=6c78dcbd47a68a7d25d2bee7a6c74b9136cb5fde <53fb25e90c0a503a17c639341ba5e755cb2feb5c
  7. Affected versionversion=6c78dcbd47a68a7d25d2bee7a6c74b9136cb5fde <8980018a9806743d9b80837330d46f06ecf78516
  8. Affected versionversion=6c78dcbd47a68a7d25d2bee7a6c74b9136cb5fde <a32f1d4f1f4c9d978698f3c718621f6198f2e7ac
  9. Affected versionversion=6c78dcbd47a68a7d25d2bee7a6c74b9136cb5fde <b1e3eeb037256a2f1206a8d69810ec47eb152026
  10. Affected versionversion=6c78dcbd47a68a7d25d2bee7a6c74b9136cb5fde <d537859e56bcc3091805c524484a4c85386b3cc8

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=2.6.23; version=6c78dcbd47a68a7d25d2bee7a6c74b9136cb5fde <27b918007d96402aba10ed52a6af8015230f1793; version=6c78dcbd47a68a7d25d2bee7a6c74b9136cb5fde <299d7d27af6b5844cda06a0fdfa635705e1bc50f; version=6c78dcbd47a68a7d25d2bee7a6c74b9136cb5fde <523fa0979d842443aa14b80002e45b471cbac137; version=6c78dcbd47a68a7d25d2bee7a6c74b9136cb5fde <538b43aa21e3b17c110104efd218b966d2eda5f8; version=6c78dcbd47a68a7d25d2bee7a6c74b9136cb5fde <53fb25e90c0a503a17c639341ba5e755cb2feb5c; version=6c78dcbd47a68a7d25d2bee7a6c74b9136cb5fde <8980018a9806743d9b80837330d46f06ecf78516; version=6c78dcbd47a68a7d25d2bee7a6c74b9136cb5fde <a32f1d4f1f4c9d978698f3c718621f6198f2e7ac; version=6c78dcbd47a68a7d25d2bee7a6c74b9136cb5fde <b1e3eeb037256a2f1206a8d69810ec47eb152026; version=6c78dcbd47a68a7d25d2bee7a6c74b9136cb5fde <d537859e56bcc3091805c524484a4c85386b3cc8

Published CVSS scores

5.5UbuntuCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
5.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 11, 2026Sep 17, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 17, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-667Improper Locking
T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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