# CVE-2023-53105: net/mlx5e: Fix cleanup null-ptr deref on encap lock

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel's mlx5e driver can cause a system crash during module unloading with active offloaded traffic.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 2 May 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-69923, BELL-CVE-2023-53105, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53105, GHSA-w3vx-37cc-jxmm, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2023-53105, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2023-53105, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53105

## What is CVE-2023-53105?

CVE-2023-53105 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 2 May 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net/mlx5e: Fix cleanup null-ptr deref on encap lock

During module is unloaded while a peer tc flow is still offloaded,
first the peer uplink rep profile is changed to a nic profile, and so
neigh encap lock is destroyed. Next during unload, the VF reps netdevs
are unregistered which causes the original non-peer tc flow to be deleted,
which deletes the peer flow. The peer flow deletion detaches the encap
entry and try to take the already destroyed encap lock, causing the
below trace.

Fix this by clearing peer flows during tc eswitch cleanup
(mlx5e_tc_esw_cleanup()).

Relevant trace:
[ 4316.837128] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 00000000000001d8
[ 4316.842239] RIP: 0010:__mutex_lock+0xb5/0xc40
[ 4316.851897] Call Trace:
[ 4316.852481]  <TASK>
[ 4316.857214]  mlx5e_rep_neigh_entry_release+0x93/0x790 [mlx5_core]
[ 4316.858258]  mlx5e_rep_encap_entry_detach+0xa7/0xf0 [mlx5_core]
[ 4316.859134]  mlx5e_encap_dealloc+0xa3/0xf0 [mlx5_core]
[ 4316.859867]  clean_encap_dests.part.0+0x5c/0xe0 [mlx5_core]
[ 4316.860605]  mlx5e_tc_del_fdb_flow+0x32a/0x810 [mlx5_core]
[ 4316.862609]  __mlx5e_tc_del_fdb_peer_flow+0x1a2/0x250 [mlx5_core]
[ 4316.863394]  mlx5e_tc_del_flow+0x(/0x630 [mlx5_core]
[ 4316.864090]  mlx5e_flow_put+0x5f/0x100 [mlx5_core]
[ 4316.864771]  mlx5e_delete_flower+0x4de/0xa40 [mlx5_core]
[ 4316.865486]  tc_setup_cb_reoffload+0x20/0x80
[ 4316.865905]  fl_reoffload+0x47c/0x510 [cls_flower]
[ 4316.869181]  tcf_block_playback_offloads+0x91/0x1d0
[ 4316.869649]  tcf_block_unbind+0xe7/0x1b0
[ 4316.870049]  tcf_block_offload_cmd.isra.0+0x1ee/0x270
[ 4316.879266]  tcf_block_offload_unbind+0x61/0xa0
[ 4316.879711]  __tcf_block_put+0xa4/0x310

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53105?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53105?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53105 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53105 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-53105 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53105 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 2 May 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53105 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53105/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53105/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53105
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53105
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53105

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53105/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.