CVE-2023-3772VulnerabilityPublished 25 Jul 2023Updated 7 Nov 2025

CVE-2023-3772: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 · NULL Pointer Dereference

Affects Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.5Medium

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

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 40% 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:N/I:N/A:H

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
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: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within 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 25 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 kernel patches as soon as they become available to address the NULL pointer dereference in the XFRM subsystem. 2. Audit and restrict CAP_NET_ADMIN privileges strictly to trusted administrators and processes; avoid granting this capability to untrusted or unnecessary users. 3. Implement monitoring and alerting for kernel crashes or unusual network subsystem behavior to detect potential exploitation attempts early. 4. Use security frameworks like SELinux or AppArmor to enforce least privilege and contain potential misuse of network administration capabilities. 5. Review and harden automated network management tools or scripts that operate with CAP_NET_ADMIN to prevent accidental triggering of the vulnerability. 6. Maintain up-to-date backups and incident response plans to recover quickly from potential denial of service events. 7. Engage in vulnerability scanning and penetration testing focused on local privilege misuse to identify exposure to this and similar vulnerabilities.

Description

CVE-2023-3772 is a medium-severity vulnerability in the Linux kernel's IP framework (XFRM subsystem) affecting Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8. It allows a user with CAP_NET_ADMIN privileges to trigger a NULL pointer dereference in the xfrm_update_ae_params() function, causing a kernel crash and denial of service. This flaw does not impact confidentiality or integrity but can disrupt availability. Exploitation requires local privileges and no user interaction. There are no known exploits in the wild currently. European organizations running RHEL 8 with network administration capabilities are at risk, especially those in critical infrastructure and enterprise environments. Mitigation involves applying kernel patches from Red Hat once available and restricting CAP_NET_ADMIN privileges to trusted users only. Countries with significant RHEL deployments and critical infrastructure reliance, such as Germany, France, and the UK, are most likely affected. The vulnerability's medium severity reflects its limited scope and exploitation complexity but notable impact on system availability.

Impact

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2023-3772 is the potential for denial of service through kernel crashes on systems running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8. This can disrupt critical services, especially in environments relying on stable network infrastructure such as telecommunications, finance, healthcare, and government sectors. Since exploitation requires CAP_NET_ADMIN privileges, insider threats or compromised administrative accounts pose the greatest risk. The vulnerability does not expose sensitive data or allow privilege escalation, but repeated crashes could lead to operational downtime, impacting business continuity and service availability. Organizations with automated network management tools or scripts running with CAP_NET_ADMIN privileges may be particularly vulnerable to accidental or malicious triggering of this flaw. The absence of known exploits in the wild reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the threat, especially as attackers may develop exploits over time. Overall, the impact is moderate but significant for high-availability systems and critical infrastructure in Europe.

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 14 Nov 2025, 13:48 UTC

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