CyberRota Analysis
AI-GeneratedThe vulnerability affects the Linux kernel's IPVS estimator kthread, which may improperly handle the initialization of limits during the calculation phase if the network namespace is disabled. This can lead to a buffer overflow, allowing the kthread to write beyond allocated memory, potentially causing system instability or crashes. Organizations using Linux in environments that rely on IPVS for load balancing should prioritize patching this vulnerability to mitigate the risk of exploitation.
Original NVD Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ipvs: stop estimator after disabled calc phase IPVS estimator kthread 0 starts with zeroed chain and tick limits until its initial calculation phase completes. If network namespace teardown clears ipvs->enable during that phase, ip_vs_est_calc_phase() can return without installing positive limits. The kthread can then continue into its main loop and drain est_temp_list with zero chain_max, tick_max and est_max_count values. Each enqueue consumes one available tick row, but est_count never reaches the zero est_max_count value. After all rows are consumed, the row lookup returns IPVS_EST_NTICKS and ip_vs_enqueue_estimator() writes past the ticks and tick_len arrays. Exit kthread 0 after the calculation phase if the kthread is stopping or IPVS has been disabled. That keeps temporary estimators from being drained after the limits failed to initialize. Estimator kthreads can now self-exit before teardown or reload stops kd->task. Keep an extra task reference after creation and release it with kthread_stop_put(), so kd->task remains valid until the stop paths consume that reference.