CVE-2023-54269: SUNRPC: double free xprt_ctxt while still in use

Severity: critical (CVSS 9.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.5% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2025-12-30 · updated 2026-10-15

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: SUNRPC: double free xprt_ctxt while still in use When an RPC request is deferred, the rq_xprt_ctxt pointer is moved out of the svc_rqst into the svc_deferred_req. When the deferred request is revisited, the pointer is copied into the new svc_rqst - and also remains in the svc_deferred_req. In the (rare?) case that the request is deferred a second time, the old svc_deferred_req is reused - it still has all the correct content. However in that case the rq_xprt_ctxt pointer is NOT cleared so that when xpo_release_xprt is called, the ctxt is freed (UDP) or possible added to a free list (RDMA). When the deferred request is revisited for a second time, it will reference this ctxt which may be invalid, and the free the object a second time which is likely to oops. So change svc_defer() to *always* clear rq_xprt_ctxt, and assert that the value is now stored in the svc_deferred_req.

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 5.15.35 before 5.15.113; from 5.17.4 before 5.18; 5.18 — fixed in 5.15.113, 5.18, 6.4

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 5.15.113, 5.18, 6.4. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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