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High · 7.5 CVE-2026-23440 EUVD-2026-18681GHSA-255w-8g7g-qmg6

net/mlx5e: Fix race condition during IPSec ESN update

Published Apr 3, 2026 · Updated Oct 19, 2026 · Assigned by Linux

Vendor: Linux Product: Linux Package: linux Package: linux Package: linux-allwinner-5.19 Package: linux-aws Package: linux-aws-5.0 Package: linux-aws-5.11 Package: linux-aws-5.13 Package: linux-aws-5.19 Package: linux-aws-5.3 Package: linux-aws-5.8 Package: linux-aws-6.14 Package: linux-aws-6.17 Package: linux-aws-6.2 Package: linux-aws-6.5 Package: linux-aws-6.8 Package: linux-aws-fips Package: linux-azure Package: linux-azure-5.11 Package: linux-azure-5.13 Package: linux-azure-5.19 Package: linux-azure-5.3 Package: linux-azure-5.8 Package: linux-azure-6.11 Package: linux-azure-6.14 Package: linux-azure-6.17 Package: linux-azure-6.2 Package: linux-azure-6.5 Package: linux-azure-6.8 Package: linux-azure-edge Package: linux-azure-fde Package: linux-azure-fde-5.19 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.14 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.2 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.8 Package: linux-azure-fips Package: linux-azure-nvidia Package: linux-azure-nvidia-6.14 Package: linux-bluefield Package: linux-fips Package: linux-gcp Package: linux-gcp-5.11 Package: linux-gcp-5.13 Package: linux-gcp-5.19 Package: linux-gcp-5.3 Package: linux-gcp-5.8 Package: linux-gcp-6.11 Package: linux-gcp-6.14 Package: linux-gcp-6.17 Package: linux-gcp-6.2 Package: linux-gcp-6.5 Package: linux-gcp-6.8 Package: linux-gcp-fips Package: linux-gke Package: linux-gke-4.15 Package: linux-gke-5.15 Package: linux-gke-5.4 Package: linux-gkeop Package: linux-gkeop-5.15 Package: linux-gkeop-5.4 Package: linux-hwe Package: linux-hwe-5.11 Package: linux-hwe-5.13 Package: linux-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-hwe-5.8 Package: linux-hwe-6.11 Package: linux-hwe-6.14 Package: linux-hwe-6.17 Package: linux-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-hwe-6.8 Package: linux-hwe-edge Package: linux-ibm Package: linux-ibm-6.8 Package: linux-intel-5.13 Package: linux-intel-iot-realtime Package: linux-lowlatency Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 Package: linux-nvidia Package: linux-nvidia-6.11 Package: linux-nvidia-6.17 Package: linux-nvidia-6.2 Package: linux-nvidia-6.5 Package: linux-nvidia-6.8 Package: linux-nvidia-lowlatency Package: linux-nvidia-tegra Package: linux-oem Package: linux-oem-5.10 Package: linux-oem-5.13 Package: linux-oem-5.14 Package: linux-oem-5.17 Package: linux-oem-5.6 Package: linux-oem-6.0 Package: linux-oem-6.1 Package: linux-oem-6.11 Package: linux-oem-6.14 Package: linux-oem-6.17 Package: linux-oem-6.5 Package: linux-oem-6.8 Package: linux-oracle Package: linux-oracle-5.0 Package: linux-oracle-5.11 Package: linux-oracle-5.13 Package: linux-oracle-5.3 Package: linux-oracle-5.8 Package: linux-oracle-6.14 Package: linux-oracle-6.17 Package: linux-oracle-6.5 Package: linux-oracle-6.8 Package: linux-raspi Package: linux-raspi-realtime Package: linux-raspi2 Package: linux-realtime Package: linux-realtime-6.14 Package: linux-realtime-6.17 Package: linux-realtime-6.8 Package: linux-riscv Package: linux-riscv-5.11 Package: linux-riscv-5.19 Package: linux-riscv-5.8 Package: linux-riscv-6.14 Package: linux-riscv-6.17 Package: linux-riscv-6.5 Package: linux-riscv-6.8 Package: linux-starfive-5.19 Package: linux-starfive-6.2 Package: linux-starfive-6.5 Package: linux-vmware Package: linux-xilinx Platform: Linux Ecosystem: Debian Ecosystem: Ubuntu

Description

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.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Linux Linux 6.4 6.6.130

Fixed in Linux distributions

Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian 14 linux 6.19.10-1 —
Debian 13 linux 6.12.85-1 —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu Nvidia-BlueField 24.04 LTS linux-bluefield 6.8.0-1028.33 —
Ubuntu 25.10 linux +8 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux 6.8.0-136.136 USN-8567-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-aws 6.8.0-1061.64 USN-8595-2
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure 6.8.0-1063.71 USN-8606-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure-fde 6.8.0-1062.69 USN-8607-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gcp 6.8.0-1064.72 USN-8567-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gke 6.8.0-1059.67 USN-8567-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gkeop 6.8.0-1046.50 USN-8567-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-ibm 6.8.0-1061.62 USN-8574-3
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-lowlatency 6.8.0-136.136.2 USN-8574-2
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-nvidia 6.8.0-1059.62 USN-8596-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-nvidia-lowlatency 6.8.0-1059.62.1 USN-8596-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-nvidia-tegra 6.8.0-1030.31 USN-8574-3
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-oracle 6.8.0-1058.61 USN-8574-2
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-raspi 6.8.0-1061.65 USN-8665-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-riscv +27 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-vmware 6.8.0-1008.8 —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-xilinx 6.8.0-1033.34 USN-8574-3
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-aws-6.8 6.8.0-1061.64~22.04.1 USN-8595-3
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-azure-6.8 6.8.0-1063.71~22.04.1 USN-8606-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-azure-fde-6.8 6.8.0-1062.69~22.04.1 USN-8609-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-gcp-6.8 6.8.0-1064.72~22.04.1 USN-8567-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-hwe-6.8 6.8.0-136.136~22.04.1 USN-8619-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-ibm-6.8 6.8.0-1061.62~22.04.1 USN-8574-3
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 6.8.0-136.136.2~22.04.1 USN-8574-2
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-nvidia-6.8 6.8.0-1059.62~22.04.1 USN-8596-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-oracle-6.8 6.8.0-1058.61~22.04.1 USN-8595-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-riscv +32 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-riscv-6.8 6.8.0-136.136~22.04.3 —
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-gke +28 No fix yet —
Show 5 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-gcp +14 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS linux-hwe-edge No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-raspi-realtime 6.8.0-2050.52 USN-8665-1
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-realtime 6.8.1-1056.57 USN-8567-1
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-realtime-6.14 +1 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 22.04 LTS linux-realtime-6.8 6.8.1-1056.57~22.04.2 USN-8567-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-aws-fips 6.8.0-1061.64+fips1 USN-8595-3
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-azure-fips 6.8.0-1063.71+fips2 USN-8608-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-fips 6.8.0-136.136+fips2 USN-8574-2
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-gcp-fips 6.8.0-1064.72+fips1 USN-8574-1
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
SLES 15 SP7 kernel-64kb +7 6.4.0-150700.53.55.1 SUSE-SU-2026:2238-1
SLES 15 SP7 kernel-default-base 6.4.0-150700.53.55.1.150700.17.33.1 SUSE-SU-2026:2238-1
Show 2 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
SLE Micro 6.2 kernel-syms +1 6.12.0-160000.33.1 SUSE-SU-2026:21834-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP7 kernel-default 6.4.0-150700.53.55.1 SUSE-SU-2026:2238-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP7 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7_Update_15 1-150700.15.3.1 SUSE-SU-2026:2238-1

Amazon Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Amazon Linux 2023 kernel-livepatch-6.18.20-20.229 +1 1:1.0-0.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-1596, ALAS2023-2026-1594
Amazon Linux 2023 perf6.12 +14 1:6.12.79-101.147.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-1594
Amazon Linux 2023 perf6.18 +14 1:6.18.20-20.229.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-1596

Oracle Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Oracle Linux 9 kernel-uek +34 6.12.0-204.92.4.2.el10uek ELSA-2026-50372

Advisories 20

References