CVE-2023-52924: netfilter: nf_tables: don't skip expired elements during walk

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2023-52924 is a medium (CVSS 5.5) vulnerability in linux. EPSS estimates a 0.21% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 11.9% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 05-02-2025
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 11-05-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nf_tables: don't skip expired elements during walk There is an asymmetry between commit/abort and preparation phase if the following conditions are met: 1. set is a verdict map ("1.2.3.4 : jump foo") 2. timeouts are enabled In this case, following sequence is problematic: 1. element E in set S refers to chain C 2. userspace requests removal of set S 3. kernel does a set walk to decrement chain->use count for all elements from preparation phase 4. kernel does another set walk to remove elements from the commit phase (or another walk to do a chain->use increment for all elements from abort phase) If E has already expired in 1), it will be ignored during list walk, so its use count won't have been changed. Then, when set is culled, ->destroy callback will zap the element via nf_tables_set_elem_destroy(), but this function is only safe for elements that have been deactivated earlier from the preparation phase: lack of earlier deactivate removes the element but leaks the chain use count, which results in a WARN splat when the chain gets removed later, plus a leak of the nft_chain structure. Update pipapo_get() not to skip expired elements, otherwise flush command reports bogus ENOENT errors.

No weakness data has been published for this record.