# CVE-2023-52562: mm/slab_common: fix slab_caches list corruption after kmem_cache_destroy()

> A kernel bug allows list corruption when destroying slab caches, leading to system crashes or panics during module removal.

- **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:** 2 Mar 2024
- **Updated:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-52562, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-52562, GHSA-j56h-xwg2-4wc2, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-52562

## What is CVE-2023-52562?

CVE-2023-52562 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 2 Mar 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:

mm/slab_common: fix slab_caches list corruption after kmem_cache_destroy()

After the commit in Fixes:, if a module that created a slab cache does not
release all of its allocated objects before destroying the cache (at rmmod
time), we might end up releasing the kmem_cache object without removing it
from the slab_caches list thus corrupting the list as kmem_cache_destroy()
ignores the return value from shutdown_cache(), which in turn never removes
the kmem_cache object from slabs_list in case __kmem_cache_shutdown() fails
to release all of the cache's slabs.

This is easily observable on a kernel built with CONFIG_DEBUG_LIST=y
as after that ill release the system will immediately trip on list_add,
or list_del, assertions similar to the one shown below as soon as another
kmem_cache gets created, or destroyed:

  [ 1041.213632] list_del corruption. next->prev should be ffff89f596fb5768, but was 52f1e5016aeee75d. (next=ffff89f595a1b268)
  [ 1041.219165] ------------[ cut here ]------------
  [ 1041.221517] kernel BUG at lib/list_debug.c:62!
  [ 1041.223452] invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP PTI
  [ 1041.225408] CPU: 2 PID: 1852 Comm: rmmod Kdump: loaded Tainted: G    B   W  OE      6.5.0 #15
  [ 1041.228244] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS edk2-20230524-3.fc37 05/24/2023
  [ 1041.231212] RIP: 0010:__list_del_entry_valid+0xae/0xb0

Another quick way to trigger this issue, in a kernel with CONFIG_SLUB=y,
is to set slub_debug to poison the released objects and then just run
cat /proc/slabinfo after removing the module that leaks slab objects,
in which case the kernel will panic:

  [   50.954843] general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xa56b6b6b6b6b6b8b: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP PTI
  [   50.961545] CPU: 2 PID: 1495 Comm: cat Kdump: loaded Tainted: G    B   W  OE      6.5.0 #15
  [   50.966808] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS edk2-20230524-3.fc37 05/24/2023
  [   50.972663] RIP: 0010:get_slabinfo+0x42/0xf0

This patch fixes this issue by properly checking shutdown_cache()'s
return value before taking the kmem_cache_release() branch.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-52562?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-52562?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-52562 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-52562 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-2023-52562 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-52562 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 2 Mar 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-2023-52562 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-2023-52562/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-52562/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-52562
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-52562
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-52562

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-52562/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.