CVE-2023-53375 tracing: Free error logs of tracing instances
A memory leak in the Linux kernel tracing subsystem allows local attackers to exhaust system memory by repeatedly creating and deleting tracing instances with errors.
- 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
What is CVE-2023-53375?
CVE-2023-53375 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 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:
tracing: Free error logs of tracing instances
When a tracing instance is removed, the error messages that hold errors that occurred in the instance needs to be freed. The following reports a memory leak:
# cd /sys/kernel/tracing # mkdir instances/foo # echo 'hist:keys=x' > instances/foo/events/sched/sched_switch/trigger # cat instances/foo/error_log [ 117.404795] hist:sched:sched_switch: error: Couldn't find field Command: hist:keys=x ^ # rmdir instances/foo
Then check for memory leaks:
# echo scan > /sys/kernel/debug/kmemleak # cat /sys/kernel/debug/kmemleak unreferenced object 0xffff88810d8ec700 (size 192): comm "bash", pid 869, jiffies 4294950577 (age 215.752s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 60 dd 68 61 81 88 ff ff 60 dd 68 61 81 88 ff ff `.ha....`.ha.... a0 30 8c 83 ff ff ff ff 26 00 0a 00 00 00 00 00 .0......&....... backtrace: [<00000000dae26536>] kmalloc_trace+0x2a/0xa0 [<00000000b2938940>] tracing_log_err+0x277/0x2e0 [<000000004a0e1b07>] parse_atom+0x966/0xb40 [<0000000023b24337>] parse_expr+0x5f3/0xdb0 [<00000000594ad074>] event_hist_trigger_parse+0x27f8/0x3560 [<00000000293a9645>] trigger_process_regex+0x135/0x1a0 [<000000005c22b4f2>] event_trigger_write+0x87/0xf0 [<000000002cadc509>] vfs_write+0x162/0x670 [<0000000059c3b9be>] ksys_write+0xca/0x170 [<00000000f1cddc00>] do_syscall_64+0x3e/0xc0 [<00000000868ac68c>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x72/0xdc unreferenced object 0xffff888170c35a00 (size 32): comm "bash", pid 869, jiffies 4294950577 (age 215.752s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 0a 20 20 43 6f 6d 6d 61 6e 64 3a 20 68 69 73 74 . Command: hist 3a 6b 65 79 73 3d 78 0a 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 :keys=x......... backtrace: [<000000006a747de5>] __kmalloc+0x4d/0x160 [<000000000039df5f>] tracing_log_err+0x29b/0x2e0 [<000000004a0e1b07>] parse_atom+0x966/0xb40 [<0000000023b24337>] parse_expr+0x5f3/0xdb0 [<00000000594ad074>] event_hist_trigger_parse+0x27f8/0x3560 [<00000000293a9645>] trigger_process_regex+0x135/0x1a0 [<000000005c22b4f2>] event_trigger_write+0x87/0xf0 [<000000002cadc509>] vfs_write+0x162/0x670 [<0000000059c3b9be>] ksys_write+0xca/0x170 [<00000000f1cddc00>] do_syscall_64+0x3e/0xc0 [<00000000868ac68c>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x72/0xdc
The problem is that the error log needs to be freed when the instance is removed.
Weakness: CWE-401
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53375?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2023-53375?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.
Is CVE-2023-53375 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53375 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2023-53375, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53375, GHSA-gqg7-c937-vcqh, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53375.