CVE-2023-52578
Linux Kernel vulnerability analysis and mitigation

Overview

CVE-2023-52578 is a data race vulnerability discovered in the Linux kernel's network bridge implementation. The issue specifically affects the brhandleframe_finish() function in the bridge network driver, which can run from multiple CPUs without proper mutual exclusion (Kernel Git).

Technical details

The vulnerability stems from concurrent access to dev->stats fields in the brhandleframe_finish() function. The function can execute simultaneously on multiple CPUs, leading to potential data races when updating statistics counters. This was initially discovered by the Kernel Concurrency Sanitizer (KCSAN) which reported data races in the multicast packet counting functionality (Red Hat Advisory).

Impact

The vulnerability affects the network bridge statistics counting mechanism in the Linux kernel. While primarily impacting statistical data accuracy, it represents a concurrency issue that could potentially lead to system instability in network bridge operations (Red Hat Advisory).

Mitigation and workarounds

The issue has been fixed by adopting the SMP-safe DEVSTATSINC() macro to update dev->stats fields, replacing direct counter increments. This patch has been integrated into various Linux kernel versions through security updates (Red Hat Advisory).

Additional resources


SourceThis report was generated using AI

Free Vulnerability Assessment

Benchmark your Cloud Security Posture

Evaluate your cloud security practices across 9 security domains to benchmark your risk level and identify gaps in your defenses.

Request assessment

Get a personalized demo

Ready to see Wiz in action?

“Best User Experience I have ever seen, provides full visibility to cloud workloads.”
David EstlickCISO
“Wiz provides a single pane of glass to see what is going on in our cloud environments.”
Adam FletcherChief Security Officer
“We know that if Wiz identifies something as critical, it actually is.”
Greg PoniatowskiHead of Threat and Vulnerability Management