Linux Kernel up to 5.15.112/6.1.29/6.3.3 nf_tables veth_dellink use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as critical has been reported in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.112/6.1.29/6.3.3. Affected by this vulnerability is the function veth_dellink of the component nf_tables. This manipulation causes use after free. This vulnerability is registered as CVE-2023-54200. No exploit is available. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.112/6.1.29/6.3.3. It has been declared as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function veth_dellink of the component nf_tables. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nf_tables: always release netdev hooks from notifier This reverts "netfilter: nf_tables: skip netdev events generated on netns removal". The problem is that when a veth device is released, the veth release callback will also queue the peer netns device for removal. Its possible that the peer netns is also slated for removal. In this case, the device memory is already released before the pre_exit hook of the peer netns runs: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in nf_hook_entry_head+0x1b8/0x1d0 Read of size 8 at addr ffff88812c0124f0 by task kworker/u8:1/45 Workqueue: netns cleanup_net Call Trace: nf_hook_entry_head+0x1b8/0x1d0 __nf_unregister_net_hook+0x76/0x510 nft_netdev_unregister_hooks+0xa0/0x220 __nft_release_hook+0x184/0x490 nf_tables_pre_exit_net+0x12f/0x1b0 .. Order is: 1. First netns is released, veth_dellink() queues peer netns device for removal 2. peer netns is queued for removal 3. peer netns device is released, unreg event is triggered 4. unreg event is ignored because netns is going down 5. pre_exit hook calls nft_netdev_unregister_hooks but device memory might be free'd already.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2023-54200 since 12/30/2025. The exploitation appears to be easy. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 04/26/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 280809 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2023-54200), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.15.113, 6.1.30 or 6.3.4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 8d56f00c61f67b450fbbdcb874855e60ad92c560/30e4b13b1bfbdf3bf3b27036d8209ea1b9f0d880/94032527efbac13be702c76afb9d872c0cca7a43/dc1c9fd4a8bbe1e06add9053010b652449bfe411 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 (280809) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2941). If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• IBM Power Hardware Management Console
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• RESF Rocky Linux
• IBM DataPower Gateway

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.15.112
• 6.1.0
• 6.1.1
• 6.1.2
• 6.1.3
• 6.1.4
• 6.1.5
• 6.1.6
• 6.1.7
• 6.1.8
• 6.1.9
• 6.1.10
• 6.1.11
• 6.1.12
• 6.1.13
• 6.1.14
• 6.1.15
• 6.1.16
• 6.1.17
• 6.1.18
• 6.1.19
• 6.1.20
• 6.1.21
• 6.1.22
• 6.1.23
• 6.1.24
• 6.1.25
• 6.1.26
• 6.1.27
• 6.1.28
• 6.1.29
• 6.3.0
• 6.3.1
• 6.3.2
• 6.3.3

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

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