CVE-2023-1838

A use-after-free flaw was found in vhost_net_set_backend in drivers/vhost/net.c in virtio network subcomponent in the Linux kernel due to a double fget. This flaw could allow a local attacker to crash the system, and could even lead to a kernel information leak problem.

Published: 2023-04-05 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-1838 is rated Low Risk (34.4/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.25%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-1838

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.02% 0.25% +0.24%
2 2025-11-21 0.07% 0.02% -0.05%
3 2025-11-18 — 0.07% —

Full EPSS history (5 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-1838

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.1 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 5.2 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-1838

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-1838

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2023-1838 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-1838
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-1838
suse medium CVE-2023-1838 severity moderate: SUSE including 604 source package names (1.2.3-2.2.63:kernel-rt-5.14.21-150400.15.23.1, 15.5:kernel-default-devel-5.14.21-150500.55.7.1, …), 1258 product×package rows across 252 product lines (Container bci/bci-sle15-kernel-module-devel, Container rancher/elemental-teal-rt/5.4, … (252 product lines)): Fixed 1021, Known Affected 147, Known Not Affected 90. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-1838/
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-1838 medium priority: Ubuntu including 167 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner, …), 1970 status rows across 13 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1512, released 197, not-affected 174, ignored 87. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-1838

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-1838

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 4.13, < 4.14.317 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 4.15, < 4.19.245 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 4.20, < 5.4.196 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.5, < 5.10.118 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.15.42 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 5.17.10 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h300s — cpe:2.3:h:netapp:h300s:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h410c — cpe:2.3:h:netapp:h410c:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h410s — cpe:2.3:h:netapp:h410s:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h500s — cpe:2.3:h:netapp:h500s:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h700s — cpe:2.3:h:netapp:h700s:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-1838

cvelogic Threat Intelligence