Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2023-52999

high Nessus Plugin ID 245108

Synopsis

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed with a vulnerability that the vendor indicates will not be patched.

Description

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied patch available.

- In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: fix UaF in netns ops registration error path If net_assign_generic() fails, the current error path in ops_init() tries to clear the gen pointer slot. Anyway, in such error path, the gen pointer itself has not been modified yet, and the existing and accessed one is smaller than the accessed index, causing an out-of-bounds error: BUG: KASAN:
slab-out-of-bounds in ops_init+0x2de/0x320 Write of size 8 at addr ffff888109124978 by task modprobe/1018 CPU: 2 PID: 1018 Comm: modprobe Not tainted 6.2.0-rc2.mptcp_ae5ac65fbed5+ #1641 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.1-2.fc37 04/01/2014 Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x6a/0x9f print_address_description.constprop.0+0x86/0x2b5 print_report+0x11b/0x1fb kasan_report+0x87/0xc0 ops_init+0x2de/0x320 register_pernet_operations+0x2e4/0x750 register_pernet_subsys+0x24/0x40 tcf_register_action+0x9f/0x560 do_one_initcall+0xf9/0x570 do_init_module+0x190/0x650 load_module+0x1fa5/0x23c0 __do_sys_finit_module+0x10d/0x1b0 do_syscall_64+0x58/0x80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x72/0xdc RIP: 0033:0x7f42518f778d Code: 00 c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 90 f3 0f 1e fa 48 89 f8 48 89 f7 48 89 d6 48 89 ca 4d 89 c2 4d 89 c8 4c 8b 4c 24 08 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 8b 0d cb 56 2c 00 f7 d8 64 89 01 48 RSP: 002b:00007fff96869688 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000139 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00005568ef7f7c90 RCX: 00007f42518f778d RDX:
0000000000000000 RSI: 00005568ef41d796 RDI: 0000000000000003 RBP: 00005568ef41d796 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000003 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 0000000000000000 R13:
00005568ef7f7d30 R14: 0000000000040000 R15: 0000000000000000 </TASK> This change addresses the issue by skipping the gen pointer de-reference in the mentioned error-path. Found by code inspection and verified with explicit error injection on a kasan-enabled kernel. (CVE-2023-52999)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.

Solution

There is no known solution at this time.

See Also

https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2023-52999

https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-52999

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 245108

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2023_52999.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 8/7/2025

Updated: 8/7/2025

Supported Sensors: Frictionless Assessment AWS, Frictionless Assessment Azure, Frictionless Assessment Agent, Nessus Agent, Agentless Assessment, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 6.7

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 5.6

Temporal Score: 4.1

Vector: CVSS2#AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:C

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2023-52999

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.8

Temporal Score: 6.8

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-selftests-internal, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-6.5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe-6.5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oracle-5.0, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oracle-5.13, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-riscv-6.5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-5.11, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-nvidia-6.5, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:24.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-5.19, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-5.19, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-modules, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-6.5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-riscv-5.11, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-riscv, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-core, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-5.17, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gke-5.15, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-devel-matched, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:22.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-starfive-6.5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oracle-5.3, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe-edge, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-intel-5.13, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-devel, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-6.5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-riscv-5.8, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-starfive-5.19, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-5.3, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-raspi-realtime, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gke, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-kvm, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe-6.2, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-5.19, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gkeop-5.4, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-allwinner-5.19, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-5.13, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-6.2, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe-5.11, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-5.3, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-5.11, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-edge, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-fde, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-modules, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-5.0, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-nvidia-6.2, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gkeop-5.15, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-5.8, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-5.13, cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oracle-6.5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-5.3, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-core, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-6.0, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-raspi2, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gke-5.4, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-6.2, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-6.2, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-5.11, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-5.10, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-5.8, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-kvm, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe-5.19, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oracle-5.8, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe-5.13, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-riscv-5.19, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gke-4.15, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-starfive-6.2, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-5.8, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-realtime, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-5.13, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-devel, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-5.13, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-5.6, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe-5.8, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gkeop, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oracle-5.11, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-6.1, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:20.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-6.5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-5.14, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-fde-5.19, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-fde-6.2

Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/cpu, global_settings/vendor_unpatched, Host/OS/identifier

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Vulnerability Publication Date: 2/22/2023

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2023-52999