CVE-2023-54262

A use-after-free flaw was discovered in the Linux kernel’s mlx5e networking driver. The code erroneously cloned flow post action attributes a second time in mlx5e_tc_post_act_add() despite an earlier clone in mlx5e_clone_flow_attr_for_post_act(). This second clone is not properly updated during neighbor update operations, which can lead to use-after-free memory access when the stale attribute copy is dereferenced.

This vulnerability is rated as Moderate because triggering the condition requires local administrative privileges to configure network traffic control flower filters with hardware offloading on hosts using Mellanox ConnectX adapters. Typical deployments lacking this specific offloading configuration or running on alternative network hardware remain unaffected. While successful exploitation can result in a kernel crash or memory corruption, it does not present a remote unauthenticated threat under default configurations.

The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.

Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options don't meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.