---
id: CVE-2023-53549
title: 'netfilter: ipset: Rework long task execution when adding/deleting entries'
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  netfilter: ipset: Rework long task execution when adding/deleting entries

  When adding/deleting large number of elements in one step in ipset, it can
  take a reasonable …
severity: none
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= e62e62ea912a49f7230620f1bdc20410b943a44c <
    ee756980e491c829ba0495bb420b7224a9ee26b2
  - >-
    Linux >= 5f7b51bf09baca8e4f80cbe879536842bafb5f31 <
    a1e1521b463968b4eca7163f61fb6cc54d008061
  - >-
    Linux >= 5f7b51bf09baca8e4f80cbe879536842bafb5f31 <
    24a828f5a54bdeca0846526860d72b3766c5fe95
  - >-
    Linux >= 5f7b51bf09baca8e4f80cbe879536842bafb5f31 <
    8964cc36ba011dc0e1041131fa2e91fb4c2a811b
  - >-
    Linux >= 5f7b51bf09baca8e4f80cbe879536842bafb5f31 <
    5e29dc36bd5e2166b834ceb19990d9e68a734d7d
  - Linux e0f824abe0f412f769fb5468b36c2471430bd885
  - Linux >= 5.10.157 < 5.10.163
  - Linux >= 5.13.14 < 5.14
  - Linux 5.14
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: partial
  timestamp: '2026-11-05T20:23:40.217792Z'
published: '2025-10-04'
updated: '2026-11-05'
sourceUpdated: '2026-11-05T20:31:14.508Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53549'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ee756980e491c829ba0495bb420b7224a9ee26b2'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a1e1521b463968b4eca7163f61fb6cc54d008061'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/24a828f5a54bdeca0846526860d72b3766c5fe95'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8964cc36ba011dc0e1041131fa2e91fb4c2a811b'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5e29dc36bd5e2166b834ceb19990d9e68a734d7d'
tags:
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00128
epssPercentile: 0.02464
ingestedAt: '2026-11-05T22:38:31.810Z'
---

## Overview

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

netfilter: ipset: Rework long task execution when adding/deleting entries

When adding/deleting large number of elements in one step in ipset, it can
take a reasonable amount of time and can result in soft lockup errors. The
patch 5f7b51bf09ba ("netfilter: ipset: Limit the maximal range of
consecutive elements to add/delete") tried to fix it by limiting the max
elements to process at all. However it was not enough, it is still possible
that we get hung tasks. Lowering the limit is not reasonable, so the
approach in this patch is as follows: rely on the method used at resizing
sets and save the state when we reach a smaller internal batch limit,
unlock/lock and proceed from the saved state. Thus we can avoid long
continuous tasks and at the same time removed the limit to add/delete large
number of elements in one step.

The nfnl mutex is held during the whole operation which prevents one to
issue other ipset commands in parallel.

## Affected

- `Linux >= e62e62ea912a49f7230620f1bdc20410b943a44c < ee756980e491c829ba0495bb420b7224a9ee26b2`
- `Linux >= 5f7b51bf09baca8e4f80cbe879536842bafb5f31 < a1e1521b463968b4eca7163f61fb6cc54d008061`
- `Linux >= 5f7b51bf09baca8e4f80cbe879536842bafb5f31 < 24a828f5a54bdeca0846526860d72b3766c5fe95`
- `Linux >= 5f7b51bf09baca8e4f80cbe879536842bafb5f31 < 8964cc36ba011dc0e1041131fa2e91fb4c2a811b`
- `Linux >= 5f7b51bf09baca8e4f80cbe879536842bafb5f31 < 5e29dc36bd5e2166b834ceb19990d9e68a734d7d`
- `Linux e0f824abe0f412f769fb5468b36c2471430bd885`
- `Linux >= 5.10.157 < 5.10.163`
- `Linux >= 5.13.14 < 5.14`
- `Linux 5.14`

## Remediation

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