---
id: CVE-2023-4387
title: 'Kernel: vmxnet3: use-after-free in vmxnet3_rq_alloc_rx_buf()'
summary: >-
  A use-after-free flaw was found in vmxnet3_rq_alloc_rx_buf in
  drivers/net/vmxnet3/vmxnet3_drv.c in VMware's vmxnet3 ethernet NIC driver in
  the Linux Kernel. This issue could allow a local attacker to crash the system
  due to a double-free…
severity: high
cvss: 7.1
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H'
cvssSource: cna
cwe:
  - CWE-416
vendor: Red Hat
product: kernel
affected:
  - kernel (all versions)
  - kernel (all versions)
  - kernel (all versions)
  - kernel
  - kernel
  - kernel-rt
  - kernel-rt (all versions)
  - kernel-rt (all versions)
published: '2023-08-16'
updated: '2026-11-07'
sourceUpdated: '2026-11-07T13:41:35.132Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-4387'
references:
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2022:7683'
    label: 'RHSA-2022:7683'
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2022:8267'
    label: 'RHSA-2022:8267'
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-4387'
  - url: 'https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2219270'
    label: RHBZ#2219270
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/9e7fef9521e73ca8afd7da9e58c14654b02dfad8
tags:
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00242
epssPercentile: 0.15447
ingestedAt: '2026-11-07T14:18:21.471Z'
---

## Overview

A use-after-free flaw was found in vmxnet3_rq_alloc_rx_buf in drivers/net/vmxnet3/vmxnet3_drv.c in VMware's vmxnet3 ethernet NIC driver in the Linux Kernel. This issue could allow a local attacker to crash the system due to a double-free while cleaning up vmxnet3_rq_cleanup_all, which could also lead to a kernel information leak problem.

## Affected

- `kernel (all versions)`
- `kernel (all versions)`
- `kernel (all versions)`
- `kernel`
- `kernel`
- `kernel-rt`
- `kernel-rt (all versions)`
- `kernel-rt (all versions)`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.

### Workarounds

Mitigation for this issue is to skip loading the affected module "vmxnet3" onto the system until the fix is available, this can be done by a blacklist mechanism which will ensure the driver is not loaded at the boot time.
~~~
How do I blacklist a kernel module to prevent it from loading automatically?
https://access.redhat.com/solutions/41278 
~~~