In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
net/mlx5e: Check for NOT_READY flag state after locking
Currently the check for NOT_READY flag is performed before obtaining the necessary lock. This opens a possibility for race condition when the flow is concurrently removed from unready_flows list by the workqueue task, which causes a double-removal from the list and a crash[0]. Fix the issue by moving the flag check inside the section protected by uplink_priv->unready_flows_lock mutex.
[0]: [44376.389654] general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdead000000000108: 0000 [#1] SMP [44376.391665] CPU: 7 PID: 59123 Comm: tc Not tainted 6.4.0-rc4+ #1 [44376.392984] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS rel-1.13.0-0-gf21b5a4aeb02-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 [44376.395342] RIP: 0010:mlx5e_tc_del_fdb_flow+0xb3/0x340 [mlx5_core] [44376.396857] Code: 00 48 8b b8 68 ce 02 00 e8 8a 4d 02 00 4c 8d a8 a8 01 00 00 4c 89 ef e8 8b 79 88 e1 48 8b 83 98 06 00 00 48 8b 93 90 06 00 00 <48> 89 42 08 48 89 10 48 b8 00 01 00 00 00 00 ad de 48 89 83 90 06 [44376.399167] RSP: 0018:ffff88812cc97570 EFLAGS: 00010246 [44376.399680] RAX: dead000000000122 RBX: ffff8881088e3800 RCX: ffff8881881bac00 [44376.400337] RDX: dead000000000100 RSI: ffff88812cc97500 RDI: ffff8881242f71b0 [44376.401001] RBP: ffff88811cbb0940 R08: 0000000000000400 R09: 0000000000000001 [44376.401663] R10: 0000000000000001 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffff88812c944000 [44376.402342] R13: ffff8881242f71a8 R14: ffff8881222b4000 R15: 0000000000000000 [44376.402999] FS: 00007f0451104800(0000) GS:ffff88852cb80000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [44376.403787] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [44376.404343] CR2: 0000000000489108 CR3: 0000000123a79003 CR4: 0000000000370ea0 [44376.405004] DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 [44376.405665] DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 [44376.406339] Call Trace: [44376.406651] <TASK> [44376.406939] ? die_addr+0x33/0x90 [44376.407311] ? exc_general_protection+0x192/0x390 [44376.407795] ? asm_exc_general_protection+0x22/0x30 [44376.408292] ? mlx5e_tc_del_fdb_flow+0xb3/0x340 [mlx5_core] [44376.408876] __mlx5e_tc_del_fdb_peer_flow+0xbc/0xe0 [mlx5_core] [44376.409482] mlx5e_tc_del_flow+0x42/0x210 [mlx5_core] [44376.410055] mlx5e_flow_put+0x25/0x50 [mlx5_core] [44376.410529] mlx5e_delete_flower+0x24b/0x350 [mlx5_core] [44376.411043] tc_setup_cb_reoffload+0x22/0x80 [44376.411462] fl_reoffload+0x261/0x2f0 [cls_flower] [44376.411907] ? mlx5e_rep_indr_setup_ft_cb+0x160/0x160 [mlx5_core] [44376.412481] ? mlx5e_rep_indr_setup_ft_cb+0x160/0x160 [mlx5_core] [44376.413044] tcf_block_playback_offloads+0x76/0x170 [44376.413497] tcf_block_unbind+0x7b/0xd0 [44376.413881] tcf_block_setup+0x17d/0x1c0 [44376.414269] tcf_block_offload_cmd.isra.0+0xf1/0x130 [44376.414725] tcf_block_offload_unbind+0x43/0x70 [44376.415153] __tcf_block_put+0x82/0x150 [44376.415532] ingress_destroy+0x22/0x30 [sch_ingress] [44376.415986] qdisc_destroy+0x3b/0xd0 [44376.416343] qdisc_graft+0x4d0/0x620 [44376.416706] tc_get_qdisc+0x1c9/0x3b0 [44376.417074] rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x29c/0x390 [44376.419978] ? rep_movs_alternative+0x3a/0xa0 [44376.420399] ? rtnl_calcit.isra.0+0x120/0x120 [44376.420813] netlink_rcv_skb+0x54/0x100 [44376.421192] netlink_unicast+0x1f6/0x2c0 [44376.421573] netlink_sendmsg+0x232/0x4a0 [44376.421980] sock_sendmsg+0x38/0x60 [44376.422328] ____sys_sendmsg+0x1d0/0x1e0 [44376.422709] ? copy_msghdr_from_user+0x6d/0xa0 [44376.423127] ___sys_sendmsg+0x80/0xc0 [44376.423495] ? ___sys_recvmsg+0x8b/0xc0 [44376.423869] __sys_sendmsg+0x51/0x90 [44376.424226] do_syscall_64+0x3d/0x90 [44376.424587] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0 [44376.425046] RIP: 0033:0x7f045134f887 [44376.425403] Code: 0a 00 f7 d8 64 89 02 48 c7 c0 ff ff ff ff eb b9 0f 1f 00 f3 0f 1e fa 64 8b 04 25 18 00 00 00 85 c0 75 10 b8 2e 00 ---truncated---
| Software | From | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| linux / linux_kernel | 5.4 | 5.10.188 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 5.11 | 5.15.121 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 5.16 | 6.1.40 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.2 | 6.4.5 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.5-rc1 | 6.5-rc1.x |
A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.
CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.
A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.
Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.
Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.
SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.