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In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been...

Moderate severity Unreviewed Published Oct 4, 2025 to the GitHub Advisory Database • Updated Feb 10, 2026

Package

No package listedSuggest a package

Affected versions

Unknown

Patched versions

Unknown

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net/mlx5e: Fix deadlock in tc route query code

Cited commit causes ABBA deadlock[0] when peer flows are created while
holding the devcom rw semaphore. Due to peer flows offload implementation
the lock is taken much higher up the call chain and there is no obvious way
to easily fix the deadlock. Instead, since tc route query code needs the
peer eswitch structure only to perform a lookup in xarray and doesn't
perform any sleeping operations with it, refactor the code for lockless
execution in following ways:

  • RCUify the devcom 'data' pointer. When resetting the pointer
    synchronously wait for RCU grace period before returning. This is fine
    since devcom is currently only used for synchronization of
    pairing/unpairing of eswitches which is rare and already expensive as-is.

  • Wrap all usages of 'paired' boolean in {READ|WRITE}_ONCE(). The flag has
    already been used in some unlocked contexts without proper
    annotations (e.g. users of mlx5_devcom_is_paired() function), but it wasn't
    an issue since all relevant code paths checked it again after obtaining the
    devcom semaphore. Now it is also used by mlx5_devcom_get_peer_data_rcu() as
    "best effort" check to return NULL when devcom is being unpaired. Note that
    while RCU read lock doesn't prevent the unpaired flag from being changed
    concurrently it still guarantees that reader can continue to use 'data'.

  • Refactor mlx5e_tc_query_route_vport() function to use new
    mlx5_devcom_get_peer_data_rcu() API which fixes the deadlock.

[0]:

[ 164.599612] ======================================================
[ 164.600142] WARNING: possible circular locking dependency detected
[ 164.600667] 6.3.0-rc3+ #1 Not tainted
[ 164.601021] ------------------------------------------------------
[ 164.601557] handler1/3456 is trying to acquire lock:
[ 164.601998] ffff88811f1714b0 (&esw->offloads.encap_tbl_lock){+.+.}-{3:3}, at: mlx5e_attach_encap+0xd8/0x8b0 [mlx5_core]
[ 164.603078]
but task is already holding lock:
[ 164.603617] ffff88810137fc98 (&comp->sem){++++}-{3:3}, at: mlx5_devcom_get_peer_data+0x37/0x80 [mlx5_core]
[ 164.604459]
which lock already depends on the new lock.

[ 164.605190]
the existing dependency chain (in reverse order) is:
[ 164.605848]
-> #1 (&comp->sem){++++}-{3:3}:
[ 164.606380] down_read+0x39/0x50
[ 164.606772] mlx5_devcom_get_peer_data+0x37/0x80 [mlx5_core]
[ 164.607336] mlx5e_tc_query_route_vport+0x86/0xc0 [mlx5_core]
[ 164.607914] mlx5e_tc_tun_route_lookup+0x1a4/0x1d0 [mlx5_core]
[ 164.608495] mlx5e_attach_decap_route+0xc6/0x1e0 [mlx5_core]
[ 164.609063] mlx5e_tc_add_fdb_flow+0x1ea/0x360 [mlx5_core]
[ 164.609627] __mlx5e_add_fdb_flow+0x2d2/0x430 [mlx5_core]
[ 164.610175] mlx5e_configure_flower+0x952/0x1a20 [mlx5_core]
[ 164.610741] tc_setup_cb_add+0xd4/0x200
[ 164.611146] fl_hw_replace_filter+0x14c/0x1f0 [cls_flower]
[ 164.611661] fl_change+0xc95/0x18a0 [cls_flower]
[ 164.612116] tc_new_tfilter+0x3fc/0xd20
[ 164.612516] rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x418/0x5b0
[ 164.612936] netlink_rcv_skb+0x54/0x100
[ 164.613339] netlink_unicast+0x190/0x250
[ 164.613746] netlink_sendmsg+0x245/0x4a0
[ 164.614150] sock_sendmsg+0x38/0x60
[ 164.614522] ____sys_sendmsg+0x1d0/0x1e0
[ 164.614934] ___sys_sendmsg+0x80/0xc0
[ 164.615320] __sys_sendmsg+0x51/0x90
[ 164.615701] do_syscall_64+0x3d/0x90
[ 164.616083] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0
[ 164.616568]
-> #0 (&esw->offloads.encap_tbl_lock){+.+.}-{3:3}:
[ 164.617210] __lock_acquire+0x159e/0x26e0
[ 164.617638] lock_acquire+0xc2/0x2a0
[ 164.618018] __mutex_lock+0x92/0xcd0
[ 164.618401] mlx5e_attach_encap+0xd8/0x8b0 [mlx5_core]
[ 164.618943] post_process_attr+0x153/0x2d0 [
---truncated---

References

Published by the National Vulnerability Database Oct 4, 2025
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Oct 4, 2025
Last updated Feb 10, 2026

Severity

Moderate

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS score

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

This score estimates the probability of this vulnerability being exploited within the next 30 days. Data provided by FIRST.
(2nd percentile)

Weaknesses

Improper Locking

The product does not properly acquire or release a lock on a resource, leading to unexpected resource state changes and behaviors. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2023-53591

GHSA ID

GHSA-8qq6-88xp-8ghp

Source code

No known source code

Dependabot alerts are not supported on this advisory because it does not have a package from a supported ecosystem with an affected and fixed version.

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