net: openvswitch: fix flow memory leak in ovs_flow_cmd_new
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 2 fixed, 4 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-401.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: openvswitch: fix flow memory leak in ovs_flow_cmd_new Syzkaller reports a memory leak of new_flow in ovs_flow_cmd_new() as it is not freed when an allocation of a key fails. BUG: memory leak unreferenced object 0xffff888116668000 (size 632): comm "syz-executor231", pid 1090, jiffies 4294844701 (age 18.871s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ backtrace: [<00000000defa3494>] kmem_cache_zalloc include/linux/slab.h:654 [inline] [<00000000defa3494>] ovs_flow_alloc+0x19/0x180 net/openvswitch/flow_table.c:77 [<00000000c67d8873>] ovs_flow_cmd_new+0x1de/0xd40 net/openvswitch/datapath.c:957 [<0000000010a539a8>] genl_family_rcv_msg_doit+0x22d/0x330 net/netlink/genetlink.c:739 [<00000000dff3302d>] genl_family_rcv_msg net/netlink/genetlink.c:783 [inline] [<00000000dff3302d>] genl_rcv_msg+0x328/0x590 net/netlink/genetlink.c:800 [<000000000286dd87>] netlink_rcv_skb+0x153/0x430 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2515 [<0000000061fed410>] genl_rcv+0x24/0x40 net/netlink/genetlink.c:811 [<000000009dc0f111>] netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1313 [inline] [<000000009dc0f111>] netlink_unicast+0x545/0x7f0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1339 [<000000004a5ee816>] netlink_sendmsg+0x8e7/0xde0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1934 [<00000000482b476f>] sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:651 [inline] [<00000000482b476f>] sock_sendmsg+0x152/0x190 net/socket.c:671 [<00000000698574ba>] ____sys_sendmsg+0x70a/0x870 net/socket.c:2356 [<00000000d28d9e11>] ___sys_sendmsg+0xf3/0x170 net/socket.c:2410 [<0000000083ba9120>] __sys_sendmsg+0xe5/0x1b0 net/socket.c:2439 [<00000000c00628f8>] do_syscall_64+0x30/0x40 arch/x86/entry/common.c:46 [<000000004abfdcf4>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x61/0xc6 To fix this the patch rearranges the goto labels to reflect the order of object allocations and adds appropriate goto statements on the error paths. Found by Linux Verification Center (linuxtesting.org) with Syzkaller.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 4.9.337 to before 4.10; 6.0.16 to before 6.1 | 4.10, 6.1 | Patch available | CNA |
| Linux | Linux | 4.14.303 to before 4.14.306; 4.19.270 to before 4.19.273; 5.4.229 to before 5.4.232; 5.10.163 to before 5.10.168; 5.15.86 to before 5.15.93; 6.1.2 to before 6.1.11 | 4.14.306, 4.19.273, 5.4.232, 5.10.168, 5.15.93, 6.1.11 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 4.9.337 to before 4.10; 6.0.16 to before 6.1 Fixed in 4.10, 6.1 Patch available CNA
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 4.14.303 to before 4.14.306; 4.19.270 to before 4.19.273; 5.4.229 to before 5.4.232; 5.10.163 to before 5.10.168; 5.15.86 to before 5.15.93; 6.1.2 to before 6.1.11 Fixed in 4.14.306, 4.19.273, 5.4.232, 5.10.168, 5.15.93, 6.1.11 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 4.9.337 to before 4.10; 4.14.303 to before 4.14.306; 4.19.270 to before 4.19.273; 5.4.229 to before 5.4.232; 5.10.163 to before 5.10.168; 5.15.86 to before 5.15.93; 6.0.16 to before 6.1; 6.1.2 to before 6.1.11 | Vulnerable | Linux |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 4.9.337 to before 4.10; 4.14.303 to before 4.14.306; 4.19.270 to before 4.19.273; 5.4.229 to before 5.4.232; 5.10.163 to before 5.10.168; 5.15.86 to before 5.15.93; 6.0.16 to before 6.1; 6.1.2 to before 6.1.11 Vulnerable ·Linux
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 4.10, 6.1
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 4.14.306, 4.19.273, 5.4.232, 5.10.168, 5.15.93, 6.1.11
Red Hat 2 advisories
- RHSA-2023:7077 Released 2023-11-14 · Red Hat rating Importantkernel security, bug fix, and enhancement update
- Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 8) kernel-tools-libs-devel-4.18.0-513.5.1.el8_9
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 8) bpftool-4.18.0-513.5.1.el8_9, kernel-4.18.0-513.5.1.el8_9, kernel-abi-stablelists-4.18.0-513.5.1.el8_9 +19
- RHSA-2023:6583 Released 2023-11-07 · Red Hat rating Importantkernel security, bug fix, and enhancement update
- Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 9) kernel-tools-libs-devel-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, libperf-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) kernel-64k-debug-devel-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-64k-debug-devel-matched-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-64k-devel-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3 +11
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) bpftool-7.2.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-64k-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3 +29
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 9) kernel-rt-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-rt-core-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-rt-debug-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3 +9
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 9) kernel-rt-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-rt-core-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-rt-debug-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3 +11
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 8) | Fixed | RHSA-2023:7077 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 8) | Fixed | RHSA-2023:7077 |
Not affected: 1 product
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2023-52977
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-qv94-9c4f-29wh
References
Patch 7
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1ac653cf886cdfc082708c82dc6ac6115cebd2ee
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/af4e720bc00a2653f7b9df21755b9978b3d7f386
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ed6c5e8caf55778500202775167e8ccdb1a030cb
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/70154489f531587996f3e9d7cceeee65cff0001d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f423c2efd51d7eb1d143c2be7eea233241d9bbbf
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/70d40674a549d498bd63d5432acf46205da1534b
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0c598aed445eb45b0ee7ba405f7ece99ee349c30
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Sources
- CVE-2023-52977 · CVE Program
- CVE-2023-52977 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-qv94-9c4f-29wh · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2023-52977 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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