#VU124931 Race condition in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-23440
Published: April 6, 2026
Linux kernel
Linux Foundation
Description
The vulnerability allows a local user to cause a denial of service.
The vulnerability exists due to a race condition in the net/mlx5e IPSec ESN update handling path when processing ESN wrap events in IPSec full offload mode. A local user can trigger duplicate ESN update handling to cause a denial of service.
Processing the same event twice can incorrectly increment the ESN high-order bits and program invalid ESN state into hardware, resulting in anti-replay failures and a complete halt of IPSec traffic.
Remediation
External links
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2051c709dce92da3550040aa7949cd5a9c89b14e
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3dffc083292e6872787bd7e34b957627622f9af4
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8d625c15471fb8780125eaef682983a96af77bdc
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/96c9c25b74686ac2de15921c9ad30c5ef13af8cd
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/beb6e2e5976a128b0cccf10d158124422210c5ef