# CVE-2023-52797: drivers: perf: Check find_first_bit() return value

> A missing check on find_first_bit return value in the Linux kernel perf driver causes an array overflow and kernel panic, leading to denial of service.

- **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:** 21 May 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-52797, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-52797, GHSA-3r4r-jmwh-rccm, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2023-52797, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-52797

## What is CVE-2023-52797?

CVE-2023-52797 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 21 May 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:

drivers: perf: Check find_first_bit() return value

We must check the return value of find_first_bit() before using the
return value as an index array since it happens to overflow the array
and then panic:

[  107.318430] Kernel BUG [#1]
[  107.319434] CPU: 3 PID: 1238 Comm: kill Tainted: G            E      6.6.0-rc6ubuntu-defconfig #2
[  107.319465] Hardware name: riscv-virtio,qemu (DT)
[  107.319551] epc : pmu_sbi_ovf_handler+0x3a4/0x3ae
[  107.319840]  ra : pmu_sbi_ovf_handler+0x52/0x3ae
[  107.319868] epc : ffffffff80a0a77c ra : ffffffff80a0a42a sp : ffffaf83fecda350
[  107.319884]  gp : ffffffff823961a8 tp : ffffaf8083db1dc0 t0 : ffffaf83fecda480
[  107.319899]  t1 : ffffffff80cafe62 t2 : 000000000000ff00 s0 : ffffaf83fecda520
[  107.319921]  s1 : ffffaf83fecda380 a0 : 00000018fca29df0 a1 : ffffffffffffffff
[  107.319936]  a2 : 0000000001073734 a3 : 0000000000000004 a4 : 0000000000000000
[  107.319951]  a5 : 0000000000000040 a6 : 000000001d1c8774 a7 : 0000000000504d55
[  107.319965]  s2 : ffffffff82451f10 s3 : ffffffff82724e70 s4 : 000000000000003f
[  107.319980]  s5 : 0000000000000011 s6 : ffffaf8083db27c0 s7 : 0000000000000000
[  107.319995]  s8 : 0000000000000001 s9 : 00007fffb45d6558 s10: 00007fffb45d81a0
[  107.320009]  s11: ffffaf7ffff60000 t3 : 0000000000000004 t4 : 0000000000000000
[  107.320023]  t5 : ffffaf7f80000000 t6 : ffffaf8000000000
[  107.320037] status: 0000000200000100 badaddr: 0000000000000000 cause: 0000000000000003
[  107.320081] [<ffffffff80a0a77c>] pmu_sbi_ovf_handler+0x3a4/0x3ae
[  107.320112] [<ffffffff800b42d0>] handle_percpu_devid_irq+0x9e/0x1a0
[  107.320131] [<ffffffff800ad92c>] generic_handle_domain_irq+0x28/0x36
[  107.320148] [<ffffffff8065f9f8>] riscv_intc_irq+0x36/0x4e
[  107.320166] [<ffffffff80caf4a0>] handle_riscv_irq+0x54/0x86
[  107.320189] [<ffffffff80cb0036>] do_irq+0x64/0x96
[  107.320271] Code: 85a6 855e b097 ff7f 80e7 9220 b709 9002 4501 bbd9 (9002) 6097
[  107.320585] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---
[  107.320704] Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception in interrupt
[  107.320775] SMP: stopping secondary CPUs
[  107.321219] Kernel Offset: 0x0 from 0xffffffff80000000
[  107.333051] ---[ end Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception in interrupt ]---

Weakness: CWE-252 (Unchecked Return Value)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-52797?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-52797?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-52797 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-52797 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-2023-52797 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-52797 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 21 May 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-2023-52797 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-2023-52797/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-52797/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-52797
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-52797
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-52797

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-52797/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.
