CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2023-4206 — A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's net/sched: cls_route component can be exploited to achieve local privilege escalation

High CVSS 7.8

A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's net/sched: cls_route component can be exploited to achieve local privilege escalation. When route4_change() is called on an existing filter, the whole tcf_result struct is always copied into the new instance of the filter. This causes a problem when updating a filter bound to a class, as tcf_unbind_filter() is always called on the old instance in the success path, decreasing filter_cnt of the still referenced class and allowing it to be deleted, leading to a use-after-free. We recommend upgrading past commit b80b829e9e2c1b3f7aae34855e04d8f6ecaf13c8.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.8 (3.1)
Published
2023-09-06
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
linux/kernel
Weaknesses
CWE-416

Affected products

  • linux / linux_kernel
  • debian / debian_linux / 12.0

Showing 2 representative product identities from 8 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

Use-after-free, double free, and expired resource use

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Trace ownership, references, callbacks, asynchronous tasks, and teardown paths around the affected object or resource.
  • Identify reachable inputs and timing or state transitions that can release the object while references remain.
  • Confirm affected builds, allocators, feature flags, architectures, and process privileges.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the maintained ownership or lifetime fix and rebuild all artifacts containing the affected native code.
  • Use explicit ownership, safe reference management, cancellation and join semantics, and idempotent teardown.
  • Add deterministic lifetime tests plus isolated sanitizer and concurrency coverage for shutdown and error paths.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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