Technical impact
The Linux kernel’s team networking driver fails to free the socket buffer (skb) when a broadcast packet is transmitted on an interface that has no transmit‑capable ports. The sending path reports success to the network stack while the kernel retains the skb, creating a memory leak that grows with each such event. Over time, repeated exploitation can consume kernel memory, degrade performance, or trigger a kernel crash. This flaw represents an improper resource shutdown, commonly known as a memory leak.
Affected Systems
All Linux kernel installations that use the team driver are potentially vulnerable, regardless of the exact kernel version, because the bug exists in the code path that handles broadcast frames within the team driver.
Risk and Exploitability
The vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog and the EPSS score is less than 1%, indicating a low probability of exploitation. The CVSS score of 2.5 reflects low severity, though the impact can become significant after sustained use. An attacker could trigger the leak by sending many broadcast packets to a team interface lacking transmit‑capable ports; this is possible from a remote host if connectivity to the interface exists or from local processes that can inject packets. While the flaw does not enable code execution, repeated exploitation can lead to memory exhaustion, raising the risk of a denial‑of‑service or kernel crash.
Ubuntu USN