CVE-2023-52578 – This CVE describes a data race condition in the... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2023-52578?

CVE-2023-52578 has a CVSS score of 7.0 (HIGH). This CVE describes a data race condition in the Linux kernel's bridge networking module where multiple CPUs can concurrently update network device statistics without proper synchronization. This can lead to corrupted statistics counters and potential kernel instability. Systems using Linux bridge networking (including containers, virtualization hosts, and network appliances) are affected.

📋 TL;DR

This CVE describes a data race condition in the Linux kernel's bridge networking module where multiple CPUs can concurrently update network device statistics without proper synchronization. This can lead to corrupted statistics counters and potential kernel instability. Systems using Linux bridge networking (including containers, virtualization hosts, and network appliances) are affected.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Linux kernel

Versions: Specific affected versions not explicitly stated in CVE, but references indicate fixes in stable kernel trees. Likely affects multiple recent kernel versions before fixes were backported.

Operating Systems: Linux distributions using affected kernel versions

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: Only affects systems with bridge networking enabled (br_netfilter module loaded or bridge interfaces configured). Common in virtualization hosts, container platforms, and network appliances.

📦 What is this software?

Linux Kernel by Linux

The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...

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Linux Kernel by Linux

The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...

Learn more about Linux Kernel →

Linux Kernel by Linux

The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...

Learn more about Linux Kernel →

Linux Kernel by Linux

The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...

Learn more about Linux Kernel →

Linux Kernel by Linux

The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...

Learn more about Linux Kernel →

Linux Kernel by Linux

The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...

Learn more about Linux Kernel →

Linux Kernel by Linux

The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...

Learn more about Linux Kernel →

Linux Kernel by Linux

The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...

Learn more about Linux Kernel →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Kernel panic or system crash due to corrupted memory structures, leading to denial of service for all network-dependent services.

🟠

Likely Case

Corrupted network statistics counters causing inaccurate monitoring data, with occasional system instability under high network load.

🟢

If Mitigated

Minor performance impact from proper synchronization, with accurate statistics collection.

🌐 Internet-Facing: MEDIUM - Exploitation requires network traffic to trigger the race condition, but impact is limited to DoS rather than remote code execution.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Internal systems using bridge networking (virtualization hosts, container platforms) could experience instability affecting multiple workloads.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: MEDIUM

Exploitation requires sending network traffic to trigger the race condition between multiple CPUs. Discovered via syzbot/KCSAN fuzzing, suggesting it's detectable but not widely weaponized.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: Multiple stable kernel commits listed in references (04cc361f029c, 44bdb313da57, 89f9f20b1cbd, 8bc97117b51d, ad8d39c7b437)

Vendor Advisory: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/04cc361f029c14dd067ad180525c7392334c9bfd

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Update to a patched kernel version from your distribution vendor. 2. For custom kernels, apply the DEV_STATS_INC() patch to br_handle_frame_finish() in net/bridge/br_input.c. 3. Rebuild and install the kernel. 4. Reboot the system.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable bridge networking

linux

Remove or disable bridge network interfaces if not required

ip link delete br0
rmmod br_netfilter
echo 'blacklist br_netfilter' > /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-bridge.conf

Limit CPU cores for network processing

linux

Reduce concurrency by limiting which CPUs handle network interrupts

echo 1 > /sys/class/net/eth0/queues/rx-0/rps_cpus
irqbalance --oneshot

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Isolate bridge networks from critical systems
Implement network traffic rate limiting to reduce concurrency pressure

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check if bridge module is loaded: lsmod | grep -E 'bridge|br_netfilter'. Check kernel version against patched releases.

Check Version:

uname -r

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify kernel version includes one of the referenced patches: grep -r 'DEV_STATS_INC' /usr/src/linux/net/bridge/ or check kernel changelog.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Kernel panic messages
KCSAN data-race warnings in dmesg
Network statistics showing anomalous values

Network Indicators:

Increased packet drops on bridge interfaces
Bridge interface instability

SIEM Query:

source="kernel" AND ("data-race" OR "KCSAN" OR "br_handle_frame_finish")

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2023-52578

CVSS v3 Score: 7.0 (HIGH)

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CWE: CWE-362

Published: March 2, 2024

Last Updated: December 11, 2024

🔗 References

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🔗 Related Vulnerabilities

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