# CVE-2023-52476: perf/x86/lbr: Filter vsyscall addresses

> A local attacker can cause a kernel panic by triggering a null dereference in the Linux kernel's LBR sampling when a vsyscall is interrupted.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 29 Feb 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-52476, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-52476, GHSA-p6q6-7q65-mgx6, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2023-52476, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-52476

## What is CVE-2023-52476?

CVE-2023-52476 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 29 Feb 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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

perf/x86/lbr: Filter vsyscall addresses

We found that a panic can occur when a vsyscall is made while LBR sampling
is active. If the vsyscall is interrupted (NMI) for perf sampling, this
call sequence can occur (most recent at top):

    __insn_get_emulate_prefix()
    insn_get_emulate_prefix()
    insn_get_prefixes()
    insn_get_opcode()
    decode_branch_type()
    get_branch_type()
    intel_pmu_lbr_filter()
    intel_pmu_handle_irq()
    perf_event_nmi_handler()

Within __insn_get_emulate_prefix() at frame 0, a macro is called:

    peek_nbyte_next(insn_byte_t, insn, i)

Within this macro, this dereference occurs:

    (insn)->next_byte

Inspecting registers at this point, the value of the next_byte field is the
address of the vsyscall made, for example the location of the vsyscall
version of gettimeofday() at 0xffffffffff600000. The access to an address
in the vsyscall region will trigger an oops due to an unhandled page fault.

To fix the bug, filtering for vsyscalls can be done when
determining the branch type. This patch will return
a "none" branch if a kernel address if found to lie in the
vsyscall region.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-52476?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-52476?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-52476 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-52476 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-52476 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-52476 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 29 Feb 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-52476 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-52476/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-52476/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-52476
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-52476
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-52476

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-52476/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.