CVE-2026-23440
HighCVSS 7.5Exploitation Probability (EPSS)
Low risk11th percentile - higher than 11% of all known CVEs
Summary
A race condition was found in the MLX5 driver in the Linux kernel during ESN (Extended Sequence Number) update in IPSec full offload mode. The driver acknowledged the ESN wrap event too late, which could lead to reprocessing the same event and incorrect increment of ESN high-order bits.
Risk Assessment
This vulnerability can cause anti-replay failures, leading to a complete halt of IPSec traffic. The organization risks disruption of secure IPSec-based network communications.
Recommendation
Immediately update the Linux kernel to a version containing the fix (commit: re-arm ESN event before modifying xfrm state). For production systems, apply the security patch from your distributor.
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Original NVD description (English source)
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/mlx5e: Fix race condition during IPSec ESN update In IPSec full offload mode, the device reports an ESN (Extended Sequence Number) wrap event to the driver. The driver validates this event by querying the IPSec ASO and checking that the esn_event_arm field is 0x0, which indicates an event has occurred. After handling the event, the driver must re-arm the context by setting esn_event_arm back to 0x1. A race condition exists in this handling path. After validating the event, the driver calls mlx5_accel_esp_modify_xfrm() to update the kernel's xfrm state. This function temporarily releases and re-acquires the xfrm state lock. So, need to acknowledge the event first by setting esn_event_arm to 0x1. This prevents the driver from reprocessing the same ESN update if the hardware sends events for other reason. Since the next ESN update only occurs after nearly 2^31 packets are received, there's no risk of missing an update, as it will happen long after this handling has finished. Processing the event twice causes the ESN high-order bits (esn_msb) to be incremented incorrectly. The driver then programs the hardware with this invalid ESN state, which leads to anti-replay failures and a complete halt of IPSec traffic. Fix this by re-arming the ESN event immediately after it is validated, before calling mlx5_accel_esp_modify_xfrm(). This ensures that any spurious, duplicate events are correctly ignored, closing the race window.