CVE-2026-23441 net/mlx5e: Prevent concurrent access to IPSec ASO context
A race condition in the Linux kernel mlx5e IPSec driver allows concurrent access to shared DMA contexts, potentially causing incorrect results or unexpected behavior.
- 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
What is CVE-2026-23441?
CVE-2026-23441 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 3 Apr 2026. 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: Prevent concurrent access to IPSec ASO context
The query or updating IPSec offload object is through Access ASO WQE. The driver uses a single mlx5e_ipsec_aso struct for each PF, which contains a shared DMA-mapped context for all ASO operations.
A race condition exists because the ASO spinlock is released before the hardware has finished processing WQE. If a second operation is initiated immediately after, it overwrites the shared context in the DMA area.
When the first operation's completion is processed later, it reads this corrupted context, leading to unexpected behavior and incorrect results.
This commit fixes the race by introducing a private context within each IPSec offload object. The shared ASO context is now copied to this private context while the ASO spinlock is held. Subsequent processing uses this saved, per-object context, ensuring its integrity is maintained.
Weakness: CWE-362
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23441?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2026-23441?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2026-23441 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23441 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-23441, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23441, GHSA-c26h-gxpc-728g, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-23441, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-23441, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23441.