CVE-2023-52977

MEDIUM
Published Mar 27, 2025 Modified Oct 1, 2025 CWE-401

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: openvswitch: fix flow memory leak in ovs_flow_cmd_new Syzkaller reports a memory leak of new_flow in ovs_flow_cmd_new() as it is not freed when an allocation of a key fails. BUG: memory leak unreferenced object 0xffff888116668000 (size 632): comm "syz-executor231", pid 1090, jiffies 4294844701 (age 18.871s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ backtrace: [<00000000defa3494>] kmem_cache_zalloc include/linux/slab.h:654 [inline] [<00000000defa3494>] ovs_flow_alloc+0x19/0x180 net/openvswitch/flow_table.c:77 [<00000000c67d8873>] ovs_flow_cmd_new+0x1de/0xd40 net/openvswitch/datapath.c:957 [<0000000010a539a8>] genl_family_rcv_msg_doit+0x22d/0x330 net/netlink/genetlink.c:739 [<00000000dff3302d>] genl_family_rcv_msg net/netlink/genetlink.c:783 [inline] [<00000000dff3302d>] genl_rcv_msg+0x328/0x590 net/netlink/genetlink.c:800 [<000000000286dd87>] netlink_rcv_skb+0x153/0x430 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2515 [<0000000061fed410>] genl_rcv+0x24/0x40 net/netlink/genetlink.c:811 [<000000009dc0f111>] netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1313 [inline] [<000000009dc0f111>] netlink_unicast+0x545/0x7f0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1339 [<000000004a5ee816>] netlink_sendmsg+0x8e7/0xde0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1934 [<00000000482b476f>] sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:651 [inline] [<00000000482b476f>] sock_sendmsg+0x152/0x190 net/socket.c:671 [<00000000698574ba>] ____sys_sendmsg+0x70a/0x870 net/socket.c:2356 [<00000000d28d9e11>] ___sys_sendmsg+0xf3/0x170 net/socket.c:2410 [<0000000083ba9120>] __sys_sendmsg+0xe5/0x1b0 net/socket.c:2439 [<00000000c00628f8>] do_syscall_64+0x30/0x40 arch/x86/entry/common.c:46 [<000000004abfdcf4>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x61/0xc6 To fix this the patch rearranges the goto labels to reflect the order of object allocations and adds appropriate goto statements on the error paths. Found by Linux Verification Center (linuxtesting.org) with Syzkaller.

Is your site exposed to CVE-2023-52977?

Run a free security scan — no signup, results in seconds.

CVSS v3.1 Score

5.5
MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-401 CWE-401

Affected Products

Vendor Product
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-52977? +
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: openvswitch: fix flow memory leak in ovs_flow_cmd_new Syzkaller reports a memory leak of new_flow in ovs_flow_cmd_new() as it is not freed when an allocation of a key fails. BUG: memory leak unreferenced object 0xffff888116668000 (size 632): comm "syz-executor231", pid 1090, jiffies 4294844701 (age 18.871s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ backtrace: [<00000000defa3494>] kmem_cache_zalloc include/linux/slab.h:654 [inline] [<00000000defa3494>] ovs_flow_alloc+0x19/0x180 net/openvswitch/flow_table.c:77 [<00000000c67d8873>] ovs_flow_cmd_new+0x1de/0xd40 net/openvswitch/datapath.c:957 [<0000000010a539a8>] genl_family_rcv_msg_doit+0x22d/0x330 net/netlink/genetlink.c:739 [<00000000dff3302d>] genl_family_rcv_msg net/netlink/genetlink.c:783 [inline] [<00000000dff3302d>] genl_rcv_msg+0x328/0x590 net/netlink/genetlink.c:800 [<000000000286dd87>] netlink_rcv_skb+0x153/0x430 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2515 [<0000000061fed410>] genl_rcv+0x24/0x40 net/netlink/genetlink.c:811 [<000000009dc0f111>] netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1313 [inline] [<000000009dc0f111>] netlink_unicast+0x545/0x7f0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1339 [<000000004a5ee816>] netlink_sendmsg+0x8e7/0xde0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1934 [<00000000482b476f>] sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:651 [inline] [<00000000482b476f>] sock_sendmsg+0x152/0x190 net/socket.c:671 [<00000000698574ba>] ____sys_sendmsg+0x70a/0x870 net/socket.c:2356 [<00000000d28d9e11>] ___sys_sendmsg+0xf3/0x170 net/socket.c:2410 [<0000000083ba9120>] __sys_sendmsg+0xe5/0x1b0 net/socket.c:2439 [<00000000c00628f8>] do_syscall_64+0x30/0x40 arch/x86/entry/common.c:46 [<000000004abfdcf4>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x61/0xc6 To fix this the patch rearranges the goto labels to reflect the order of object allocations and adds appropriate goto statements on the error paths. Found by Linux Verification Center (linuxtesting.org) with Syzkaller. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.5 (MEDIUM).
How severe is CVE-2023-52977? +
CVE-2023-52977 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 5.5 out of 10, rated MEDIUM. This is a medium-severity vulnerability that should be remediated as part of regular maintenance.
What products are affected by CVE-2023-52977? +
CVE-2023-52977 affects products from linux, specifically: linux_kernel. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.
How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2023-52977? +
You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

Related Vulnerabilities

Don't wait for an exploit

Scan your website for vulnerabilities like CVE-2023-52977 — free, no signup required.