Kernel: vmxnet3: use-after-free in vmxnet3_rq_alloc_rx_buf()

published 2023-08-16 3 y ago modified 2026-11-07 43 h ago also EUVD-2023-54251

cvss: 7.1; version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev: Not listed; not in CISA's catalog
epss: 0.2%; EPSS 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 15%
public exploits: 0; none known

A use-after-free flaw was found in vmxnet3_rq_alloc_rx_buf in drivers/net/vmxnet3/vmxnet3_drv.c in VMware's vmxnet3 ethernet NIC driver in the Linux Kernel. This issue could allow a local attacker to crash the system due to a double-free while cleaning up vmxnet3_rq_cleanup_all, which could also lead to a kernel information leak problem.

Patch / fix

fixed in 2 distros 5 links 1

Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 0:4.18.0-425.3.1.el8
Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 0:5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1

debian ubuntu red hat suse azure linux

linux Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 5.17.11-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2023-4387

linux Ubuntu 18.04 LTS 4.15.0-191.202
linux Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 5.4.0-126.142
linux Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-47.51
linux-aws Ubuntu 18.04 LTS 4.15.0-1139.150
linux-aws Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 5.4.0-1085.92
linux-aws Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-1019.23
linux-gcp Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 5.4.0-1089.97
linux-gcp Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-1017.23

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2023-4387

Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

kernel RHEL 9 5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1
perf RHEL 9 5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1
bpftool RHEL 9 5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1
kernel-core RHEL 9 5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1
kernel-tools RHEL 9 5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1
python3-perf RHEL 9 5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1
kernel-modules RHEL 9 5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1
kernel-zfcpdump RHEL 9 5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1

red hat advisories RHSA-2022:8267 RHSA-2022:7683

kernel-rt SLE Micro 5.5, Real Time Module 15 SP5, openSUSE Leap 15.5 5.14.21-150500.13.18.1
kernel-syms-rt Real Time Module 15 SP5, openSUSE Leap 15.5 5.14.21-150500.13.18.1
kernel-rt_debug Real Time Module 15 SP5, openSUSE Leap 15.5 5.14.21-150500.13.18.1
kernel-source-rt Real Time Module 15 SP5, openSUSE Leap 15.5 5.14.21-150500.13.18.1
dtb-aarch64 openSUSE Leap 15.5 5.14.21-150500.55.28.1
kernel-64kb SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP5, openSUSE Leap 15.5 5.14.21-150500.55.28.1
kernel-syms SLE Module for Development Tools 15 SP5, openSUSE Leap 15.5 5.14.21-150500.55.28.1
kernel-obs-qa openSUSE Leap 15.5 5.14.21-150500.55.28.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2023:3988-1 SUSE-SU-2023:3971-1 SUSE-SU-2023:3969-1 SUSE-SU-2023:3964-1 SUSE-SU-2023:3785-1 SUSE-SU-2023:3599-1

kernel CBL-Mariner 2.0 5.15.126.1-1

azure linux advisories AZL-27960

Azure Linux vulnerability data, Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation, from https://github.com/microsoft/AzureLinuxVulnerabilityData via OSV, under the MIT licence; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. MIT

github.com/torvalds/linux@9e7fef9 commit

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2023-4387 updated 2026-11-07 cvss 7.1

kernel: vmxnet3: use-after-free in vmxnet3_rq_alloc_rx_buf()

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 perf, kernel, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-firmware, kernel-bootwrapper, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, python-perf, kernel-kdump, +8 more
affected: workaround, no fix planned “Out of support scope”
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 kernel-rt, kernel-rt-kvm, kernel-rt-core, kernel-rt-modules, kernel-rt-debug-kvm, kernel-rt-debug-core, +6 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 kernel-rt, kernel-rt-kvm, kernel-rt-core, kernel-rt-modules, kernel-rt-debug-kvm, kernel-rt-debug-core, +12 more
affected: workaround, no fix available
Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 8) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 4.18.0-425.3.1.el8, kernel-debuginfo-common-aarch64 4.18.0-425.3.1.el8, kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64le 4.18.0-425.3.1.el8
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2022:7683
Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 9) kernel-debuginfo-common-s390x 5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1, kernel-debuginfo-common-aarch64 5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1, kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64le 5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1 Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) perf 5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1, kernel-devel-matched 5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1, kernel-debug-devel-matched 5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1, kernel-debuginfo-common-s390x 5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1, kernel-zfcpdump-devel-matched 5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1, +2 more
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2022:8267
Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 8) perf 4.18.0-425.3.1.el8, kernel 4.18.0-425.3.1.el8, bpftool 4.18.0-425.3.1.el8, kernel-core 4.18.0-425.3.1.el8, kernel-tools 4.18.0-425.3.1.el8, python3-perf 4.18.0-425.3.1.el8, +15 more
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2022:7683
Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) kernel 5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1, bpftool 5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1, kernel-core 5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1, kernel-tools 5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1, python3-perf 5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1, kernel-modules 5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1, +14 more
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2022:8267

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

Exploit prediction

0.24% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 15% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by	version	score	vector
CNA	3.1	7.1	CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H
NVD	3.1	7.1	CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H

Affected products

Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7

Classification

Weakness

CWE-416 Use After Free

Technology feeds

Linux kernel rss critical rss

References

github.com /torvalds/linux/commit/9e7fef9521e73ca8afd7da9e58c14654b02dfad8
patch
access.redhat.com /errata/RHSA-2022:7683
vendor-advisory
access.redhat.com /errata/RHSA-2022:8267
vendor-advisory
access.redhat.com /security/cve/CVE-2023-4387
vdb-entry, third-party-advisory
bugzilla.redhat.com /show_bug.cgi?id=2219270
issue-tracking, third-party-advisory

Sources

CVE List CVE-2023-4387
NVD CVE-2023-4387

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.

Summary