# CVE-2023-52828: bpf: Detect IP == ksym.end as part of BPF program

> A flaw in Linux kernel BPF stack unwinding causes a kernel panic when specific BPF programs throw exceptions, leading to denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.6 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:L`)
- **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-2023-52828, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-52828, GHSA-6j2j-fwgf-fcf6, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-52828

## What is CVE-2023-52828?

CVE-2023-52828 is a medium-severity denial of service 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:

bpf: Detect IP == ksym.end as part of BPF program

Now that bpf_throw kfunc is the first such call instruction that has
noreturn semantics within the verifier, this also kicks in dead code
elimination in unprecedented ways. For one, any instruction following
a bpf_throw call will never be marked as seen. Moreover, if a callchain
ends up throwing, any instructions after the call instruction to the
eventually throwing subprog in callers will also never be marked as
seen.

The tempting way to fix this would be to emit extra 'int3' instructions
which bump the jited_len of a program, and ensure that during runtime
when a program throws, we can discover its boundaries even if the call
instruction to bpf_throw (or to subprogs that always throw) is emitted
as the final instruction in the program.

An example of such a program would be this:

do_something():
	...
	r0 = 0
	exit

foo():
	r1 = 0
	call bpf_throw
	r0 = 0
	exit

bar(cond):
	if r1 != 0 goto pc+2
	call do_something
	exit
	call foo
	r0 = 0  // Never seen by verifier
	exit	//

main(ctx):
	r1 = ...
	call bar
	r0 = 0
	exit

Here, if we do end up throwing, the stacktrace would be the following:

bpf_throw
foo
bar
main

In bar, the final instruction emitted will be the call to foo, as such,
the return address will be the subsequent instruction (which the JIT
emits as int3 on x86). This will end up lying outside the jited_len of
the program, thus, when unwinding, we will fail to discover the return
address as belonging to any program and end up in a panic due to the
unreliable stack unwinding of BPF programs that we never expect.

To remedy this case, make bpf_prog_ksym_find treat IP == ksym.end as
part of the BPF program, so that is_bpf_text_address returns true when
such a case occurs, and we are able to unwind reliably when the final
instruction ends up being a call instruction.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-52828?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-52828?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-52828 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-52828 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-2023-52828 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-52828 is a medium-severity denial of service 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-2023-52828 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-2023-52828/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-52828/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-52828
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-52828
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-52828

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-52828/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.