Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2023-32254 is a critical-severity Race Condition (CWE-362) vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, ranked in the top 13% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
A flaw exists in the Linux kernel's ksmbd component, an in-kernel SMB server, specifically in the handling of SMB2_TREE_DISCONNECT commands. The root cause is a race condition (CWE-362) stemming from missing locking during object operations, which can be triggered over the network and yields arbitrary code execution inside the kernel. The vulnerability received a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.8.
Unauthenticated remote attackers can exploit the issue without user interaction by sending crafted SMB2 requests to an affected ksmbd instance. Successful exploitation grants kernel-level code execution, allowing full compromise of the host system.
Public advisories from Red Hat, NetApp, and the Zero Day Initiative document the flaw and point to available fixes in the upstream kernel and vendor distributions.
EPSS for the CVE rose from a low baseline to a peak of 0.0788 on 2025-01-22 before receding, indicating measurable post-disclosure exploitation interest that later subsided.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-36511
Vulnerability Data
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's ksmbd, a high-performance in-kernel SMB server. The specific flaw exists within the processing of SMB2_TREE_DISCONNECT commands. The issue results from the lack of proper locking when performing operations on an object. An…
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attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the kernel.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Accurate timestamps from internal clocks enable detection of race conditions by providing reliable event ordering in audit logs.
Coordination of concurrent security activities reduces the probability that shared resources will be accessed simultaneously without proper synchronization.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
A.8.25 mandates secure SDLC practices (secure coding guidelines, security requirements, checkpoints, testing including code scans/penetration tests, developer training) that reach race conditions in concurrent code, but only as one slice of a broad requirement whose implementation scope and rigour are left to the organisation.
A.8.26 explicitly lists resilience against malicious attacks including SQL injections and input validation as application security requirements to identify/address; race conditions are a similar class of timing-based concurrency flaw that can be mitigated by requirements for proper synchronization/locking, but this is only one slice of the broad CWE-362 class (most instances arise in low-level shared-memory or TOCTOU scenarios not named here).
Secure architecture principles require proper synchronization and resource isolation, addressing the root cause of CWE-362.
Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe concurrent access patterns and mandate atomic operations or locks.
Security testing can detect race conditions, but does not prevent them at design or coding time.
Hardening callouts derived
DISA STIG baselines are authored against specific weaknesses. Where this CVE cites a broad weakness class, the mapping is not asserted at that abstraction (owner ruling, 2026-09-25: grade only at Base and below), so no rule is shown here rather than a rule shown against the wrong grain.
- No fine-grained STIG row for CWE-362, a class-level weakness, and none of its children carries one either.