CVE-2023-3106VulnerabilityPublished 12 Jul 2023Updated 20 Nov 2025

CVE-2023-3106: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 · NULL Pointer Dereference

Affects Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.6 Medium.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.6Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 21% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: Low
Integrity: Low
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the impacted component.
Integrity: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact on the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 12 Jul 2023
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-25.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

AI-suggested

1. Apply official Red Hat patches or kernel updates as soon as they become available to address CVE-2023-3106. 2. If patching is not immediately possible, restrict access to Netlink sockets by limiting user privileges and enforcing strict access controls on affected systems. 3. Monitor system logs and network traffic for unusual Netlink message activity, particularly messages of types XFRM_MSG_GETSA and XFRM_MSG_GETPOLICY with the DUMP flag set. 4. Consider isolating legacy RHEL 6 systems from critical network segments or migrating critical workloads to supported and updated operating system versions. 5. Implement host-based intrusion detection systems (HIDS) to detect kernel crashes or anomalies indicative of exploitation attempts. 6. Educate system administrators about the vulnerability and ensure they follow best practices for privilege management and system hardening. 7. Regularly review and audit user accounts and permissions to minimize the risk of local privilege exploitation. 8. Maintain up-to-date backups and incident response plans to recover quickly from potential denial of service incidents.

Description

A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability was found in netlink_dump. This issue can occur when the Netlink socket receives the message(sendmsg) for the XFRM_MSG_GETSA, XFRM_MSG_GETPOLICY type message, and the DUMP flag is set and can cause a denial of service or possibly another unspecified impact. Due to the nature of the flaw, privilege escalation cannot be fully ruled out, although it is unlikely.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2023-3106 is denial of service, which can disrupt operations by crashing or destabilizing the kernel on affected systems. For European organizations, especially those relying on legacy RHEL 6 systems in production environments, this could lead to downtime, loss of availability of critical services, and potential operational disruptions. Although privilege escalation is unlikely, the possibility cannot be fully dismissed, which raises concerns about potential unauthorized access or privilege abuse in certain scenarios. Organizations in sectors such as finance, manufacturing, telecommunications, and government that use RHEL 6 for critical infrastructure or legacy applications may face increased risk. The vulnerability requires local access and low privileges, so insider threats or compromised accounts could exploit it. The lack of known exploits in the wild reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the need for vigilance. The impact on confidentiality and integrity is limited, but availability impact is high, which can indirectly affect business continuity and compliance with regulations such as GDPR if services are disrupted.

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 20 Nov 2025, 17:44 UTC

Technical details

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