CVE-2023-1838 Use after free in Kernel

What is CVE-2023-1838?

CVE-2023-1838 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 5 Apr 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

A use-after-free flaw was found in vhost_net_set_backend in drivers/vhost/net.c in virtio network subcomponent in the Linux kernel due to a double fget. This flaw could allow a local attacker to crash the system, and could even lead to a kernel information leak problem.

Weakness: CWE-416

Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-1838?

It affects 6 products.

Products include Linux kernel, Netapp H300s, Netapp H410c, Netapp H410s, Netapp H500s, Netapp H700s.

How do I fix CVE-2023-1838?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.

Is CVE-2023-1838 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-1838 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

• CVE-2026-53266 Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2013-6282 Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2022-0185 Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2013-2094 Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2026-53362 Linux Kernel Unspecified Exploited High 7.8

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as AZL-26032, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-1838, GHSA-rc9p-5gf8-h3m8, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-1838.