CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2023-4244 — A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's netfilter: nf_tables component can be exploited to achieve local privilege escalation

High CVSS 7.8

A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's netfilter: nf_tables component can be exploited to achieve local privilege escalation. Due to a race condition between nf_tables netlink control plane transaction and nft_set element garbage collection, it is possible to underflow the reference counter causing a use-after-free vulnerability. We recommend upgrading past commit 3e91b0ebd994635df2346353322ac51ce84ce6d8.

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 / 10.0

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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