# CVE-2023-53522: cgroup,freezer: hold cpu_hotplug_lock before freezer_mutex

> A circular locking dependency in the Linux kernel freezer subsystem can cause a deadlock, leading to a denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 1 Oct 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53522, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53522, GHSA-p96p-6mvh-mgpr, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522

## What is CVE-2023-53522?

CVE-2023-53522 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 Oct 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:

cgroup,freezer: hold cpu_hotplug_lock before freezer_mutex

syzbot is reporting circular locking dependency between cpu_hotplug_lock
and freezer_mutex, for commit f5d39b020809 ("freezer,sched: Rewrite core
freezer logic") replaced atomic_inc() in freezer_apply_state() with
static_branch_inc() which holds cpu_hotplug_lock.

cpu_hotplug_lock => cgroup_threadgroup_rwsem => freezer_mutex

  cgroup_file_write() {
    cgroup_procs_write() {
      __cgroup_procs_write() {
        cgroup_procs_write_start() {
          cgroup_attach_lock() {
            cpus_read_lock() {
              percpu_down_read(&cpu_hotplug_lock);
            }
            percpu_down_write(&cgroup_threadgroup_rwsem);
          }
        }
        cgroup_attach_task() {
          cgroup_migrate() {
            cgroup_migrate_execute() {
              freezer_attach() {
                mutex_lock(&freezer_mutex);
                (...snipped...)
              }
            }
          }
        }
        (...snipped...)
      }
    }
  }

freezer_mutex => cpu_hotplug_lock

  cgroup_file_write() {
    freezer_write() {
      freezer_change_state() {
        mutex_lock(&freezer_mutex);
        freezer_apply_state() {
          static_branch_inc(&freezer_active) {
            static_key_slow_inc() {
              cpus_read_lock();
              static_key_slow_inc_cpuslocked();
              cpus_read_unlock();
            }
          }
        }
        mutex_unlock(&freezer_mutex);
      }
    }
  }

Swap locking order by moving cpus_read_lock() in freezer_apply_state()
to before mutex_lock(&freezer_mutex) in freezer_change_state().

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53522?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53522?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53522 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53522 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-2023-53522 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53522 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 Oct 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-2023-53522 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-2023-53522/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53522/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53522
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53522
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53522

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53522/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.