Highly exploitable, CVE-2026-23273 poses a critical security risk that could lead to severe breaches.
Status: Awaiting Analysis
Last updated: 🕒 02 Apr 2026, 15:16 UTC
Originally published on: 🕘 20 Mar 2026, 09:16 UTC
Time between publication and last update: 13 days
CVSS Release: version 3
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Secondary
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVE-2026-23273: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: macvlan: observe an RCU grace period in macvlan_common_newlink() error path valis reported that a race condition still happens after my prior patch. macvlan_common_newlink() might have made @dev visible before detecting an error, and its caller will directly call free_netdev(dev). We must respect an RCU period, either in macvlan or the core networking stack. After adding a temporary mdelay(1000) in macvlan_forward_source_one() to open the race window, valis repro was: ip link add p1 type veth peer p2 ip link set address 00:00:00:00:00:20 dev p1 ip link set up dev p1 ip link set up dev p2 ip link add mv0 link p2 type macvlan mode source (ip link add invalid% link p2 type macvlan mode source macaddr add 00:00:00:00:00:20 &) ; sleep 0.5 ; ping -c1 -I p1 1.2.3.4 PING 1.2.3.4 (1.2.3.4): 56 data bytes RTNETLINK answers: Invalid argument BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in macvlan_forward_source (drivers/net/macvlan.c:408 drivers/net/macvlan.c:444) Read of size 8 at addr ffff888016bb89c0 by task e/175 CPU: 1 UID: 1000 PID: 175 Comm: e Not tainted 6.19.0-rc8+ #33 NONE Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.14.0-2 04/01/2014 Call Trace: <IRQ> dump_stack_lvl (lib/dump_stack.c:123) print_report (mm/kasan/report.c:379 mm/kasan/report.c:482) ? macvlan_forward_source (drivers/net/macvlan.c:408 drivers/net/macvlan.c:444) kasan_report (mm/kasan/report.c:597) ? macvlan_forward_source (drivers/net/macvlan.c:408 drivers/net/macvlan.c:444) macvlan_forward_source (drivers/net/macvlan.c:408 drivers/net/macvlan.c:444) ? tasklet_init (kernel/softirq.c:983) macvlan_handle_frame (drivers/net/macvlan.c:501) Allocated by task 169: kasan_save_stack (mm/kasan/common.c:58) kasan_save_track (./arch/x86/include/asm/current.h:25 mm/kasan/common.c:70 mm/kasan/common.c:79) __kasan_kmalloc (mm/kasan/common.c:419) __kvmalloc_node_noprof (./include/linux/kasan.h:263 mm/slub.c:5657 mm/slub.c:7140) alloc_netdev_mqs (net/core/dev.c:12012) rtnl_create_link (net/core/rtnetlink.c:3648) rtnl_newlink (net/core/rtnetlink.c:3830 net/core/rtnetlink.c:3957 net/core/rtnetlink.c:4072) rtnetlink_rcv_msg (net/core/rtnetlink.c:6958) netlink_rcv_skb (net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2550) netlink_unicast (net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1319 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1344) netlink_sendmsg (net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1894) __sys_sendto (net/socket.c:727 net/socket.c:742 net/socket.c:2206) __x64_sys_sendto (net/socket.c:2209) do_syscall_64 (arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94) entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:131) Freed by task 169: kasan_save_stack (mm/kasan/common.c:58) kasan_save_track (./arch/x86/include/asm/current.h:25 mm/kasan/common.c:70 mm/kasan/common.c:79) kasan_save_free_info (mm/kasan/generic.c:587) __kasan_slab_free (mm/kasan/common.c:287) kfree (mm/slub.c:6674 mm/slub.c:6882) rtnl_newlink (net/core/rtnetlink.c:3845 net/core/rtnetlink.c:3957 net/core/rtnetlink.c:4072) rtnetlink_rcv_msg (net/core/rtnetlink.c:6958) netlink_rcv_skb (net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2550) netlink_unicast (net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1319 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1344) netlink_sendmsg (net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1894) __sys_sendto (net/socket.c:727 net/socket.c:742 net/socket.c:2206) __x64_sys_sendto (net/socket.c:2209) do_syscall_64 (arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94) entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:131)
The exploitability of CVE-2026-23273 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).
CVE-2026-23273 presents an accessible attack vector with minimal effort required. Restricting access controls and implementing security updates are critical to reducing exploitation risks.
A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.
Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.
Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.
Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2026-23273, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.
Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2026-23273, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.
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