# 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.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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:** 3 Apr 2026
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **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

## 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 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23441?

It affects 1 product.


Products: 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

- [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-2026-23441 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23441 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-2026-23441/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23441/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23441
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23441
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23441

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23441/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.