Vulnerability in Linux
CVE-2023-54173
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Disable preemption in bpf_event_output We received report [1] of kernel crash, which is caused by using nesting protection without disabled preemption. The bpf_event_output can be called by programs executed by bpf_prog_run_array_cg function that disabled migration but keeps preemption enabled. This can cause task to be preempted by another one inside the nesting protection and lead eventually to two tasks using same perf_sample_data buffer and cause crashes like: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000001 #PF: supervisor instruction fetch in kernel mode #PF: error_code(0x0010) - not-present page ... ? perf_output_sample+0x12a/0x9a0 ? finish_task_switch.isra.0+0x81/0x280 ? perf_event_output+0x66/0xa0 ? bpf_event_output+0x13a/0x190 ? bpf_event_output_data+0x22/0x40 ? bpf_prog_dfc84bbde731b257_cil_sock4_connect+0x40a/0xacb ? xa_load+0x87/0xe0 ? __cgroup_bpf_run_filter_sock_addr+0xc1/0x1a0 ? release_sock+0x3e/0x90 ? sk_setsockopt+0x1a1/0x12f0 ? udp_pre_connect+0x36/0x50 ? inet_dgram_connect+0x93/0xa0 ? __sys_connect+0xb4/0xe0 ? udp_setsockopt+0x27/0x40 ? __pfx_udp_push_pending_frames+0x10/0x10 ? __sys_setsockopt+0xdf/0x1a0 ? __x64_sys_connect+0xf/0x20 ? do_syscall_64+0x3a/0x90 ? entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x72/0xdc Fixing this by disabling preemption in bpf_event_output. [1] https://github.com/cilium/cilium/issues/26756
EPSS: 0.002 (6.4th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
Affected products
- Linux — versions 2a916f2f546ca1c1e3323e2a4269307f6d9890eb, 5.7, 0
References
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2023-54173?
- CVE-2023-54173 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2025-12-30.
- How severe is CVE-2023-54173?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.