CVE-2023-3966: Openvswsitch: ovs-vswitch fails to recover after malformed geneve metadata packet

Published Mar 15, 2023
·
Updated

A flaw was found in Open vSwitch where multiple versions are vulnerable to crafted Geneve packets, which may result in a denial of service and invalid memory accesses. Triggering this issue requires that hardware offloading via the netlink path is enabled.

Other sources

ovs-vswitch fails to recover after malformed geneve metadata packet

— Red Hat

Affected Software

9 affected componentsFixes available
debian/openvswitch
2.10.7+ds1-0+deb10u12.10.7+ds1-0+deb10u52.15.0+ds1-2+deb11u53.1.0-2+deb12u13.3.0-1
redhat/openvswitch<3.1.0
3.1.0
ubuntu/openvswitch<2.13.8-0ubuntu1.4
2.13.8-0ubuntu1.4
ubuntu/openvswitch<2.17.9-0ubuntu0.22.04.1
2.17.9-0ubuntu0.22.04.1
ubuntu/openvswitch<3.2.2-0ubuntu0.23.10.1
3.2.2-0ubuntu0.23.10.1
ubuntu/openvswitch<2.17.9, <3.0.6, <3.1.4, <3.2.2
2.17.93.0.63.1.43.2.2
Openvswitch OpenvSwitch<3.1.0
Fedoraproject Fedora=39
Fedoraproject Fedora=40

Remediation

Mitigation

Disable flow hardware offload if enabled via the following setting and reboot: other_config:hw-offload=false

Patch Available

https://github.com/openvswitch/ovs/commit/be695f26fd5667bcc86d78954c4c783979088ead

Patch Available

https://github.com/openvswitch/ovs/commit/2cfbcd5247ed0fd941c1ebb9f4adb952b67fe13a

Patch Available

https://github.com/openvswitch/ovs/commit/91e621bd5abab19954bec09c7d27c59acdf607b1

Patch Available

https://github.com/openvswitch/ovs/commit/935cd1d574c6f432a451df8941374ffb36d767d9

Patch Available

https://github.com/openvswitch/ovs/commit/b8657dada9641fbd2bd3a3f882e0862448d60910

Event History

Mar 15, 2023
Data Sourced
via Red Hat·12:07 AM
DescriptionSeverityAffected Software
Feb 8, 2024
CVE Published
via Ubuntu·12:00 AM
Feb 22, 2024
CVE Published
via MITRE·12:15 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·12:15 PM
DescriptionSeverityWeakness
Data Sourced
via NVD·01:15 PM
DescriptionSeverityWeakness
Mar 28, 2024
Data Sourced
via Launchpad·01:56 PM
Description

Parent advisories

This vulnerability appears in the following advisories.

Free Weekly Intel

Don't miss critical vulnerabilities

Join thousands of security professionals who receive our weekly digest of trending CVEs, zero-days, and exploited vulnerabilities.

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of CVE-2023-3966?

CVE-2023-3966 is categorized as a denial-of-service vulnerability.

2

How do I fix CVE-2023-3966?

To fix CVE-2023-3966, upgrade to the patched versions of Open vSwitch specified in the vulnerability advisory.

3

What versions of Open vSwitch are affected by CVE-2023-3966?

CVE-2023-3966 affects multiple versions including those before 2.17.9, 3.0.6, 3.1.4, and 3.2.2.

4

Is there a workaround for CVE-2023-3966?

Currently, the best approach to mitigate CVE-2023-3966 is to disable hardware offloading via the netlink path.

5

Which operating systems are impacted by CVE-2023-3966?

CVE-2023-3966 impacts various distributions including Ubuntu, Red Hat, and Debian running vulnerable versions of Open vSwitch.

Company

Resources

Contact

SecAlerts Pty Ltd.
132 Wickham Terrace
Fortitude Valley,
QLD 4006, Australia
info@secalerts.co
By using SecAlerts services, you agree to our services end-user license agreement. This website is safeguarded by reCAPTCHA and governed by the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. All names, logos, and brands of products are owned by their respective owners, and any usage of these names, logos, and brands for identification purposes only does not imply endorsement. If you possess any content that requires removal, please get in touch with us.
© 2026 SecAlerts Pty Ltd.
ABN: 70 645 966 203, ACN: 645 966 203