# CVE-2023-53577: bpf, cpumap: Make sure kthread is running before map update returns

> A race condition in the Linux kernel's BPF cpumap can cause a kernel warning and potential resource leak, leading to 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:** 4 Oct 2025
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53577, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53577, GHSA-7977-f593-wgc3, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2023-53577, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53577

## What is CVE-2023-53577?

CVE-2023-53577 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 4 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:

bpf, cpumap: Make sure kthread is running before map update returns

The following warning was reported when running stress-mode enabled
xdp_redirect_cpu with some RT threads:

  ------------[ cut here ]------------
  WARNING: CPU: 4 PID: 65 at kernel/bpf/cpumap.c:135
  CPU: 4 PID: 65 Comm: kworker/4:1 Not tainted 6.5.0-rc2+ #1
  Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996)
  Workqueue: events cpu_map_kthread_stop
  RIP: 0010:put_cpu_map_entry+0xda/0x220
  ......
  Call Trace:
   <TASK>
   ? show_regs+0x65/0x70
   ? __warn+0xa5/0x240
   ......
   ? put_cpu_map_entry+0xda/0x220
   cpu_map_kthread_stop+0x41/0x60
   process_one_work+0x6b0/0xb80
   worker_thread+0x96/0x720
   kthread+0x1a5/0x1f0
   ret_from_fork+0x3a/0x70
   ret_from_fork_asm+0x1b/0x30
   </TASK>

The root cause is the same as commit 436901649731 ("bpf: cpumap: Fix memory
leak in cpu_map_update_elem"). The kthread is stopped prematurely by
kthread_stop() in cpu_map_kthread_stop(), and kthread() doesn't call
cpu_map_kthread_run() at all but XDP program has already queued some
frames or skbs into ptr_ring. So when __cpu_map_ring_cleanup() checks
the ptr_ring, it will find it was not emptied and report a warning.

An alternative fix is to use __cpu_map_ring_cleanup() to drop these
pending frames or skbs when kthread_stop() returns -EINTR, but it may
confuse the user, because these frames or skbs have been handled
correctly by XDP program. So instead of dropping these frames or skbs,
just make sure the per-cpu kthread is running before
__cpu_map_entry_alloc() returns.

After apply the fix, the error handle for kthread_stop() will be
unnecessary because it will always return 0, so just remove it.

Weakness: CWE-401 (Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53577?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53577?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53577 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53577 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-2023-53577 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53577 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 4 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-2023-53577 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-2023-53577/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53577/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53577
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53577
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53577

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53577/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.