medium CVSS 5.5

CVE-2023-52742·Kernel vulnerability

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: USB: Fix wrong-direction WARNING in plusb.c The syzbot fuzzer detected a bug in the plusb network driver: A zero-length control-OUT transfer was treated as a read instead of a write. In modern kernels this error provokes a WARNING: usb 1-1: BOGUS control dir, pipe 80000280 doesn't match bRequestType c0 WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 4645 at drivers/usb/core/urb.c:411 usb_submit_urb+0x14a7/0x1880 drivers/usb/core/urb.c:411 Modules linked in: CPU: 1 PID: 4645 Comm: dhcpcd Not tainted 6.2.0-rc6-syzkaller-00050-g9f266ccaa2f5 #0 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 01/12/2023 RIP: 0010:usb_submit_urb+0x14a7/0x1880 drivers/usb/core/urb.c:411 ... Call Trace: <TASK> usb_start_wait_urb+0x101/0x4b0 drivers/usb/core/message.c:58 usb_internal_control_msg drivers/usb/core/message.c:102 [inline] usb_control_msg+0x320/0x4a0 drivers/usb/core/message.c:153 __usbnet_read_cmd+0xb9/0x390 drivers/net/usb/usbnet.c:2010 usbnet_read_cmd+0x96/0xf0 drivers/net/usb/usbnet.c:2068 pl_vendor_req drivers/net/usb/plusb.c:60 [inline] pl_set_QuickLink_features drivers/net/usb/plusb.c:75 [inline] pl_reset+0x2f/0xf0 drivers/net/usb/plusb.c:85 usbnet_open+0xcc/0x5d0 drivers/net/usb/usbnet.c:889 __dev_open+0x297/0x4d0 net/core/dev.c:1417 __dev_change_flags+0x587/0x750 net/core/dev.c:8530 dev_change_flags+0x97/0x170 net/core/dev.c:8602 devinet_ioctl+0x15a2/0x1d70 net/ipv4/devinet.c:1147 inet_ioctl+0x33f/0x380 net/ipv4/af_inet.c:979 sock_do_ioctl+0xcc/0x230 net/socket.c:1169 sock_ioctl+0x1f8/0x680 net/socket.c:1286 vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 [inline] __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:870 [inline] __se_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:856 [inline] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x197/0x210 fs/ioctl.c:856 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x39/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd The fix is to call usbnet_write_cmd() instead of usbnet_read_cmd() and remove the USB_DIR_IN flag.

Severity
medium
Software
Kernel
Fixed in
6.1.12
Published
2024-05-21

Affected versions

From: 5.16

Until: 6.1.12

Fixed in: 6.1.12

How to fix this CVE

Update your Linux kernel to version 6.1.12 or later to remediate this USB driver bug in the plusb network adapter. The vulnerability stems from incorrect USB control transfer direction handling that triggers kernel warnings and potential system instability. Kernel updates should be applied followed by a system reboot to ensure the patched code is loaded.

sudo dnf update kernel kernel-devel && sudo reboot

Defensia detects this vulnerability

How to check if you are affected

  1. Check installed kernel version: uname -r
  2. Identify if plusb USB network driver is loaded: lsmod | grep plusb
  3. Search dmesg for USB control transfer warnings: dmesg | grep -i 'BOGUS control dir'
  4. Verify kernel version is 6.1.12 or higher after patching: uname -r

FAQ

What is CVE-2023-52742?

This vulnerability in the Linux kernel's plusb USB network driver causes incorrect USB control transfer direction handling, where zero-length writes are mistakenly treated as reads, triggering kernel warnings and stability issues.

Is CVE-2023-52742 being actively exploited?

No, this CVE is not listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog and no public exploits are available. The vulnerability was identified through fuzzing rather than active exploitation.

What versions of Kernel are affected by CVE-2023-52742?

Linux kernel versions 5.16 through 6.1.11 are vulnerable; kernel 6.1.12 and later contain the fix.

How do I check if my server is vulnerable to CVE-2023-52742?

Run 'uname -r' to check your kernel version. If it shows 6.1.11 or earlier and you use USB network adapters, verify with 'lsmod | grep plusb' to confirm the driver is in use.

Does Defensia detect CVE-2023-52742?

Yes — Defensia's CVE advisory scanner compares installed package versions against the NVD database. If the Linux kernel is installed on a monitored server, CVE-2023-52742 will appear in your dashboard with remediation steps.

Related Kernel CVEs

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CVE-2026-100075CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: RDMA/srpt: Fix srpt_alloc_rw_ctxs() unwind counters When srpt_alloc_rw_ctxs() fails partway through a multi-buffer indirect descriptor, the unwind path destroys RDMA contexts but leaves stale n_rw_ctx and n_rdma values (and a dangling rw_ctxs pointer). Later sq_wr_avail accounting in srpt_queue_response() or srpt_write_pending() can then subtract the wrong number of send queue credits. Reset the counters and clear rw_ctxs after freeing the heap allocation before returning an error.
CVE-2026-64035CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: igc: set tx buffer type for SMD frames Sashiko pointed out that igc_fpe_init_smd_frame() initializes igc_tx_buffer fields for an SMD skb, but does not set the buffer type: https://sashiko.dev/#/patchset/20260415025226.114115-1-kohei%40enjuk.jp Since igc_tx_buffer entries are reused, a stale XDP or XSK type can remain and make TX completion use the wrong cleanup path. Set the buffer type to IGC_TX_BUFFER_TYPE_SKB.
CVE-2026-64007CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: synproxy: refresh tcphdr after skb_ensure_writable synproxy_tstamp_adjust() rewrites the TCP timestamp option in place and then patches the TCP checksum via inet_proto_csum_replace4() on the caller-supplied tcphdr pointer. Both ipv4_synproxy_hook() and ipv6_synproxy_hook() obtain that pointer with skb_header_pointer() before calling in, so it may either alias skb->head directly or point at the caller's on-stack _tcph buffer. Between obtaining the pointer and using it, the function calls skb_ensure_writable(skb, optend), which on a cloned or non-linear skb invokes pskb_expand_head() and frees the old skb->head. After that point the cached th is stale: caller (ipv[46]_synproxy_hook) th = skb_header_pointer(skb, ..., &_tcph) synproxy_tstamp_adjust(skb, protoff, th, ...) skb_ensure_writable(skb, optend) pskb_expand_head() /* kfree(old skb->head) */ ... inet_proto_csum_replace4(&th->check, ...) /* writes into freed head, or into the caller's stack copy leaving the on-wire checksum stale */ The option bytes are written through skb->data and are fine; only the checksum update goes through th and so lands in the wrong place. The result is either a write into freed slab memory or a packet leaving with a checksum that does not match its payload. Fix by re-deriving th from skb->data + protoff immediately after skb_ensure_writable() succeeds, so the subsequent checksum update targets the linear, writable header.

References

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