# CVE-2023-53694: riscv: ftrace: Fixup panic by disabling preemption

> A race condition in the RISC-V Linux kernel ftrace implementation can cause a system panic if preemption occurs during code patching.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Not stated
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 22 Oct 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53694, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53694, GHSA-65c4-f76q-3c6g, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2023-53694, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53694

## What is CVE-2023-53694?

CVE-2023-53694 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 22 Oct 2025. 

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

riscv: ftrace: Fixup panic by disabling preemption

In RISCV, we must use an AUIPC + JALR pair to encode an immediate,
forming a jump that jumps to an address over 4K. This may cause errors
if we want to enable kernel preemption and remove dependency from
patching code with stop_machine(). For example, if a task was switched
out on auipc. And, if we changed the ftrace function before it was
switched back, then it would jump to an address that has updated 11:0
bits mixing with previous XLEN:12 part.

p: patched area performed by dynamic ftrace
ftrace_prologue:
p|      REG_S   ra, -SZREG(sp)
p|      auipc   ra, 0x? ------------> preempted
					...
				change ftrace function
					...
p|      jalr    -?(ra) <------------- switched back
p|      REG_L   ra, -SZREG(sp)
func:
	xxx
	ret

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53694?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-53694?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53694 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53694 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-53694 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53694 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 22 Oct 2025. 
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53694 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2023-53694/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53694/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53694
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53694
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53694

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53694/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.