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iavf: Fix use-after-free in free_netdev

Type: advisorySources: OSV

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: iavf: Fix use-after-free in free_netdev We do netif_napi_add() for all allocated q_vectors[], but potentially do netif_napi_del() for part of them, then kfree q_vectors and leave invalid pointers at dev->napi_list. Reproducer: [root@host ~]# cat repro.sh #!/bin/bash pf_dbsf="0000:41:00.0" vf0_dbsf="0000:41:02.0" g_pids=() function do_set_numvf() { echo 2 >/sys/bus/pci/devices/${pf_dbsf}/sriov_numvfs sleep $((RANDOM%3+1)) echo 0 >/sys/bus/pci/devices/${pf_dbsf}/sriov_numvfs sleep $((RANDOM%3+1)) } function do_set_channel() { local nic=$(ls -1 --indicator-style=none /sys/bus/pci/devices/${vf0_dbsf}/net/) [ -z "$nic" ] && { sleep $((RANDOM%3)) ; return 1; } ifconfig $nic 192.168.18.5 netmask 255.255.255.0 ifconfig $nic up ethtool -L $nic combined 1 ethtool -L $nic combined 4 sleep $((RANDOM%3)) } function on_exit() { local pid for pid in "${g_pids[@]}"; do kill -0 "$pid" &>/dev/null && kill "$pid" &>/dev/null done g_pids=() } trap "on_exit; exit" EXIT while :; do do_set_numvf ; done & g_pids+=($!) while :; do do_set_channel ; done & g_pids+=($!) wait Result: [ 4093.900222] ================================================================== [ 4093.900230] BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in free_netdev+0x308/0x390 [ 4093.900232] Read of size 8 at addr ffff88b4dc145640 by task repro.sh/6699 [ 4093.900233] [ 4093.900236] CPU: 10 PID: 6699 Comm: repro.sh Kdump: loaded Tainted: G O --------- -t - 4.18.0 #1 [ 4093.900238] Ha

Products
Kernel
Affected versions
Not specified
Fixed versions
5.10.188, 5.15.123, 5.4.251, 6.1.42, 6.4.7
CVEs
CVE-2023-53556
Confirmed fixed CVEs
Not specified
Updated in this feed
2 Nov 2026, 19:46 UTC · Revision 1

Source evidence

iavf: Fix use-after-free in free_netdev

core-osv · Original source

Published 4 Oct 2025, 15:17 UTC

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: iavf: Fix use-after-free in free_netdev We do netif_napi_add() for all allocated q_vectors[], but potentially do netif_napi_del() for part of them, then kfree q_vectors and leave invalid pointers at dev->napi_list. Reproducer: [root@host ~]# cat repro.sh #!/bin/bash pf_dbsf="0000:41:00.0" vf0_dbsf="0000:41:02.0" g_pids=() function do_set_numvf() { echo 2 >/sys/bus/pci/devices/${pf_dbsf}/sriov_numvfs sleep $((RANDOM%3+1)) echo 0 >/sys/bus/pci/devices/${pf_dbsf}/sriov_numvfs sleep $((RANDOM%3+1)) } function do_set_channel() { local nic=$(ls -1 --indicator-style=none /sys/bus/pci/devices/${vf0_dbsf}/net/) [ -z "$nic" ] && { sleep $((RANDOM%3)) ; return 1; } ifconfig $nic 192.168.18.5 netmask 255.255.255.0 ifconfig $nic up ethtool -L $nic combined 1 ethtool -L $nic combined 4 sleep $((RANDOM%3)) } function on_exit() { local pid for pid in "${g_pids[@]}"; do kill -0 "$pid" &>/dev/null && kill "$pid" &>/dev/null done g_pids=() } trap "on_exit; exit" EXIT while :; do do_set_numvf ; done & g_pids+=($!) while :; do do_set_channel ; done & g_pids+=($!) wait Result: [ 4093.900222] ================================================================== [ 4093.900230] BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in free_netdev+0x308/0x390 [ 4093.900232] Read of size 8 at addr ffff88b4dc145640 by task repro.sh/6699 [ 4093.900233] [ 4093.900236] CPU: 10 PID: 6699 Comm: repro.sh Kdump: loaded Tainted: G O --------- -t - 4.18.0 #1 [ 4093.900238] Ha

osv:CVE-2023-53556

Kernel

Fixed versions: 5.4.251, 5.10.188, 5.15.123, 6.1.42, 6.4.7

Complete source record
{
  "id": "0a1fb1f87ff2b95c9059019de7768e4b3f58842880b6a030f2855d48b8b875c5",
  "url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53556",
  "method": "structured",
  "payload": {
    "kind": "advisory",
    "title": "iavf: Fix use-after-free in free_netdev",
    "summary": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: iavf: Fix use-after-free in free_netdev We do netif_napi_add() for all allocated q_vectors[], but potentially do netif_napi_del() for part of them, then kfree q_vectors and leave invalid pointers at dev->napi_list. Reproducer: [root@host ~]# cat repro.sh #!/bin/bash pf_dbsf=\"0000:41:00.0\" vf0_dbsf=\"0000:41:02.0\" g_pids=() function do_set_numvf() { echo 2 >/sys/bus/pci/devices/${pf_dbsf}/sriov_numvfs sleep $((RANDOM%3+1)) echo 0 >/sys/bus/pci/devices/${pf_dbsf}/sriov_numvfs sleep $((RANDOM%3+1)) } function do_set_channel() { local nic=$(ls -1 --indicator-style=none /sys/bus/pci/devices/${vf0_dbsf}/net/) [ -z \"$nic\" ] && { sleep $((RANDOM%3)) ; return 1; } ifconfig $nic 192.168.18.5 netmask 255.255.255.0 ifconfig $nic up ethtool -L $nic combined 1 ethtool -L $nic combined 4 sleep $((RANDOM%3)) } function on_exit() { local pid for pid in \"${g_pids[@]}\"; do kill -0 \"$pid\" &>/dev/null && kill \"$pid\" &>/dev/null done g_pids=() } trap \"on_exit; exit\" EXIT while :; do do_set_numvf ; done & g_pids+=($!) while :; do do_set_channel ; done & g_pids+=($!) wait Result: [ 4093.900222] ================================================================== [ 4093.900230] BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in free_netdev+0x308/0x390 [ 4093.900232] Read of size 8 at addr ffff88b4dc145640 by task repro.sh/6699 [ 4093.900233] [ 4093.900236] CPU: 10 PID: 6699 Comm: repro.sh Kdump: loaded Tainted: G O --------- -t - 4.18.0 #1 [ 4093.900238] Ha",
    "evidence": "osv:CVE-2023-53556",
    "products": [
      {
        "name": {
          "value": "Kernel",
          "evidence": "/affected/1/package/name"
        },
        "prerequisites": [],
        "fixed_versions": [
          {
            "value": "5.4.251",
            "evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
          },
          {
            "value": "5.10.188",
            "evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
          },
          {
            "value": "5.15.123",
            "evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
          },
          {
            "value": "6.1.42",
            "evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
          },
          {
            "value": "6.4.7",
            "evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
          }
        ],
        "affected_versions": []
      }
    ],
    "severity": "high",
    "structured": {
      "id": "CVE-2023-53556",
      "aliases": [
        "CVE-2023-53556"
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "type": "CVSS_V3",
          "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
        }
      ],
      "affected": [
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
              "type": "GIT",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "5eae00c57f5e42bf201023471917da213c4946d6"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "17046107ca15d7571551539d94e76aba2bf71fd3"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "a4635f190f332304db4a49e827ece790b804b5db"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "345c44e18cc10cded85cb9134830e1684495c866"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "ca12b98e04b5d1902ac08fe826d3500cb4b6e891"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "8d781a9c53034813c3194b7d94409c7d24ac73eb"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "5f4fa1672d98fe99d2297b03add35346f1685d6b"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2023-53556.json"
          }
        },
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "3.14.0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "5.4.251"
                }
              ]
            },
            {
              "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "5.5.0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "5.10.188"
                }
              ]
            },
            {
              "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "5.11.0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "5.15.123"
                }
              ]
            },
            {
              "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "5.16.0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "6.1.42"
                }
              ]
            },
            {
              "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "6.2.0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "6.4.7"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "package": {
            "name": "Kernel",
            "ecosystem": "Linux"
          },
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2023-53556.json"
          }
        }
      ],
      "modified": "2026-10-28T02:30:23.221032284Z",
      "provider": "osv",
      "references": [
        "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/17046107ca15d7571551539d94e76aba2bf71fd3",
        "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/345c44e18cc10cded85cb9134830e1684495c866",
        "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5f4fa1672d98fe99d2297b03add35346f1685d6b",
        "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8d781a9c53034813c3194b7d94409c7d24ac73eb",
        "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a4635f190f332304db4a49e827ece790b804b5db",
        "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ca12b98e04b5d1902ac08fe826d3500cb4b6e891",
        "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2023/53xxx/CVE-2023-53556.json",
        "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53556",
        "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git"
      ],
      "provider_metadata": {
        "cna_assigner": "Linux",
        "osv_generated_from": "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2023/53xxx/CVE-2023-53556.json"
      }
    },
    "related_cves": [
      {
        "value": "CVE-2023-53556",
        "evidence": "/id"
      }
    ],
    "security_relevant": true,
    "severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
  },
  "source_id": "core-osv",
  "document_id": 489374,
  "published_at": "2025-10-04T15:17:01.238+00:00"
}