Linux Kernel up to 6.2.11 Veth Interface unregister_netdevice_many_notify infinite loop

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4.6$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.4.292/5.10.236/5.15.180/6.1.24/6.2.11. The impacted element is the function unregister_netdevice_many_notify of the component Veth Interface. The manipulation results in infinite loop. This vulnerability is identified as CVE-2023-53188. There is not any exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 5.4.292/5.10.236/5.15.180/6.1.24/6.2.11. Affected is the function unregister_netdevice_many_notify of the component Veth Interface. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a infinite loop vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-835. The product contains an iteration or loop with an exit condition that cannot be reached, i.e., an infinite loop. This is going to have an impact on availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: openvswitch: fix race on port output assume the following setup on a single machine: 1. An openvswitch instance with one bridge and default flows 2. two network namespaces "server" and "client" 3. two ovs interfaces "server" and "client" on the bridge 4. for each ovs interface a veth pair with a matching name and 32 rx and tx queues 5. move the ends of the veth pairs to the respective network namespaces 6. assign ip addresses to each of the veth ends in the namespaces (needs to be the same subnet) 7. start some http server on the server network namespace 8. test if a client in the client namespace can reach the http server when following the actions below the host has a chance of getting a cpu stuck in a infinite loop: 1. send a large amount of parallel requests to the http server (around 3000 curls should work) 2. in parallel delete the network namespace (do not delete interfaces or stop the server, just kill the namespace) there is a low chance that this will cause the below kernel cpu stuck message. If this does not happen just retry. Below there is also the output of bpftrace for the functions mentioned in the output. The series of events happening here is: 1. the network namespace is deleted calling `unregister_netdevice_many_notify` somewhere in the process 2. this sets first `NETREG_UNREGISTERING` on both ends of the veth and then runs `synchronize_net` 3. it then calls `call_netdevice_notifiers` with `NETDEV_UNREGISTER` 4. this is then handled by `dp_device_event` which calls `ovs_netdev_detach_dev` (if a vport is found, which is the case for the veth interface attached to ovs) 5. this removes the rx_handlers of the device but does not prevent packages to be sent to the device 6. `dp_device_event` then queues the vport deletion to work in background as a ovs_lock is needed that we do not hold in the unregistration path 7. `unregister_netdevice_many_notify` continues to call `netdev_unregister_kobject` which sets `real_num_tx_queues` to 0 8. port deletion continues (but details are not relevant for this issue) 9. at some future point the background task deletes the vport If after 7. but before 9. a packet is send to the ovs vport (which is not deleted at this point in time) which forwards it to the `dev_queue_xmit` flow even though the device is unregistering. In `skb_tx_hash` (which is called in the `dev_queue_xmit`) path there is a while loop (if the packet has a rx_queue recorded) that is infinite if `dev->real_num_tx_queues` is zero. To prevent this from happening we update `do_output` to handle devices without carrier the same as if the device is not found (which would be the code path after 9. is done). Additionally we now produce a warning in `skb_tx_hash` if we will hit the infinite loop. bpftrace (first word is function name): __dev_queue_xmit server: real_num_tx_queues: 1, cpu: 2, pid: 28024, tid: 28024, skb_addr: 0xffff9edb6f207000, reg_state: 1 netdev_core_pick_tx server: addr: 0xffff9f0a46d4a000 real_num_tx_queues: 1, cpu: 2, pid: 28024, tid: 28024, skb_addr: 0xffff9edb6f207000, reg_state: 1 dp_device_event server: real_num_tx_queues: 1 cpu 9, pid: 21024, tid: 21024, event 2, reg_state: 1 synchronize_rcu_expedited: cpu 9, pid: 21024, tid: 21024 synchronize_rcu_expedited: cpu 9, pid: 21024, tid: 21024 synchronize_rcu_expedited: cpu 9, pid: 21024, tid: 21024 synchronize_rcu_expedited: cpu 9, pid: 21024, tid: 21024 dp_device_event server: real_num_tx_queues: 1 cpu 9, pid: 21024, tid: 21024, event 6, reg_state: 2 ovs_netdev_detach_dev server: real_num_tx_queues: 1 cpu 9, pid: 21024, tid: 21024, reg_state: 2 netdev_rx_handler_unregister server: real_num_tx_queues: 1, cpu: 9, pid: 21024, tid: 21024, reg_state: 2 synchronize_rcu_expedited: cpu 9, pid: 21024, tid: 21024 netdev_rx_handler_unregister ret server: real_num_tx_queues: 1, cpu: 9, pid: 21024, tid: 21024, reg_state: 2 dp_ ---truncated---

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2023-53188 since 09/15/2025. The exploitability is told to be difficult. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 276910 (SUSE SLES12 Security Update : kernel (SUSE-SU-2025:4189-1)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.4.293, 5.10.237, 5.15.181, 6.1.25 or 6.2.12 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 9b0dd09c1ceb35950d2884848099fccc9ec9a123/284be5db6c8d06d247ed056cfc448c4f79bbb16c/5efcb301523baacd98a47553d4996e924923114d/644b3051b06ba465bc7401bfae9b14963cbc8c1c/56252da41426f3d01957456f13caf46ce670ea29/066b86787fa3d97b7aefb5ac0a99a22dad2d15f8 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (276910), EUVD (EUVD-2023-59788) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2053). If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

Affected

  • Debian Linux
  • Amazon Linux 2
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux
  • Ubuntu Linux
  • SUSE Linux
  • Oracle Linux
  • IBM QRadar SIEM
  • SUSE openSUSE
  • Open Source Linux Kernel
  • RESF Rocky Linux
  • Dell Secure Connect Gateway
  • F5 F5OS

Productinfo

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CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 4.8
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 4.6

VulDB Base Score: 4.8
VulDB Temp Score: 4.6
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 4.7
NVD Vector: 🔒

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
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VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Infinite loop
CWE: CWE-835 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: Partially

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

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Nessus ID: 276910
Nessus Name: SUSE SLES12 Security Update : kernel (SUSE-SU-2025:4189-1)

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 5.4.293/5.10.237/5.15.181/6.1.25/6.2.12
Patch: 9b0dd09c1ceb35950d2884848099fccc9ec9a123/284be5db6c8d06d247ed056cfc448c4f79bbb16c/5efcb301523baacd98a47553d4996e924923114d/644b3051b06ba465bc7401bfae9b14963cbc8c1c/56252da41426f3d01957456f13caf46ce670ea29/066b86787fa3d97b7aefb5ac0a99a22dad2d15f8

Timelineinfo

09/15/2025 Advisory disclosed
09/15/2025 +0 days CVE reserved
09/15/2025 +0 days VulDB entry created
01/10/2026 +117 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2023-53188 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2023-53188
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-323946
EUVD: 🔒
CERT Bund: WID-SEC-2025-2053 - Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen

Entryinfo

Created: 09/15/2025 16:41
Updated: 01/10/2026 21:02
Changes: 09/15/2025 16:41 (59), 11/27/2025 20:30 (2), 12/02/2025 04:01 (9), 12/02/2025 06:50 (1), 12/29/2025 00:47 (7), 01/10/2026 21:02 (1)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

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