# CVE-2023-53329: workqueue: fix data race with the pwq->stats[] increment

> A data race in the Linux kernel workqueue subsystem can lead to inconsistent statistics, potentially causing undefined behavior or minor instability.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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:** 16 Sep 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53329, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53329, GHSA-8v8f-6c96-795r, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53329

## What is CVE-2023-53329?

CVE-2023-53329 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 16 Sep 2025. 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:

workqueue: fix data race with the pwq->stats[] increment

KCSAN has discovered a data race in kernel/workqueue.c:2598:

[ 1863.554079] ==================================================================
[ 1863.554118] BUG: KCSAN: data-race in process_one_work / process_one_work

[ 1863.554142] write to 0xffff963d99d79998 of 8 bytes by task 5394 on cpu 27:
[ 1863.554154] process_one_work (kernel/workqueue.c:2598)
[ 1863.554166] worker_thread (./include/linux/list.h:292 kernel/workqueue.c:2752)
[ 1863.554177] kthread (kernel/kthread.c:389)
[ 1863.554186] ret_from_fork (arch/x86/kernel/process.c:145)
[ 1863.554197] ret_from_fork_asm (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:312)

[ 1863.554213] read to 0xffff963d99d79998 of 8 bytes by task 5450 on cpu 12:
[ 1863.554224] process_one_work (kernel/workqueue.c:2598)
[ 1863.554235] worker_thread (./include/linux/list.h:292 kernel/workqueue.c:2752)
[ 1863.554247] kthread (kernel/kthread.c:389)
[ 1863.554255] ret_from_fork (arch/x86/kernel/process.c:145)
[ 1863.554266] ret_from_fork_asm (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:312)

[ 1863.554280] value changed: 0x0000000000001766 -> 0x000000000000176a

[ 1863.554295] Reported by Kernel Concurrency Sanitizer on:
[ 1863.554303] CPU: 12 PID: 5450 Comm: kworker/u64:1 Tainted: G             L     6.5.0-rc6+ #44
[ 1863.554314] Hardware name: ASRock X670E PG Lightning/X670E PG Lightning, BIOS 1.21 04/26/2023
[ 1863.554322] Workqueue: btrfs-endio btrfs_end_bio_work [btrfs]
[ 1863.554941] ==================================================================

    lockdep_invariant_state(true);
→   pwq->stats[PWQ_STAT_STARTED]++;
    trace_workqueue_execute_start(work);
    worker->current_func(work);

Moving pwq->stats[PWQ_STAT_STARTED]++; before the line

    raw_spin_unlock_irq(&pool->lock);

resolves the data race without performance penalty.

KCSAN detected at least one additional data race:

[  157.834751] ==================================================================
[  157.834770] BUG: KCSAN: data-race in process_one_work / process_one_work

[  157.834793] write to 0xffff9934453f77a0 of 8 bytes by task 468 on cpu 29:
[  157.834804] process_one_work (/home/marvin/linux/kernel/linux_torvalds/kernel/workqueue.c:2606)
[  157.834815] worker_thread (/home/marvin/linux/kernel/linux_torvalds/./include/linux/list.h:292 /home/marvin/linux/kernel/linux_torvalds/kernel/workqueue.c:2752)
[  157.834826] kthread (/home/marvin/linux/kernel/linux_torvalds/kernel/kthread.c:389)
[  157.834834] ret_from_fork (/home/marvin/linux/kernel/linux_torvalds/arch/x86/kernel/process.c:145)
[  157.834845] ret_from_fork_asm (/home/marvin/linux/kernel/linux_torvalds/arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:312)

[  157.834859] read to 0xffff9934453f77a0 of 8 bytes by task 214 on cpu 7:
[  157.834868] process_one_work (/home/marvin/linux/kernel/linux_torvalds/kernel/workqueue.c:2606)
[  157.834879] worker_thread (/home/marvin/linux/kernel/linux_torvalds/./include/linux/list.h:292 /home/marvin/linux/kernel/linux_torvalds/kernel/workqueue.c:2752)
[  157.834890] kthread (/home/marvin/linux/kernel/linux_torvalds/kernel/kthread.c:389)
[  157.834897] ret_from_fork (/home/marvin/linux/kernel/linux_torvalds/arch/x86/kernel/process.c:145)
[  157.834907] ret_from_fork_asm (/home/marvin/linux/kernel/linux_torvalds/arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:312)

[  157.834920] value changed: 0x000000000000052a -> 0x0000000000000532

[  157.834933] Reported by Kernel Concurrency Sanitizer on:
[  157.834941] CPU: 7 PID: 214 Comm: kworker/u64:2 Tainted: G             L     6.5.0-rc7-kcsan-00169-g81eaf55a60fc #4
[  157.834951] Hardware name: ASRock X670E PG Lightning/X670E PG Lightning, BIOS 1.21 04/26/2023
[  157.834958] Workqueue: btrfs-endio btrfs_end_bio_work [btrfs]
[  157.835567] ==================================================================

in code:

        trace_workqueue_execute_end(work, worker->current_func);
→       pwq->stats[PWQ_STAT_COM
---truncated---

Weakness: CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53329?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53329?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53329 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53329 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-2023-53329 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53329 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 16 Sep 2025. 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-2023-53329 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-2023-53329/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53329/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53329
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53329
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53329

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53329/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.