# CVE-2023-53765: dm cache: free background tracker's queued work in btracker_destroy

> A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel dm cache module allows local attackers to cause a system crash via specific device removal operations.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **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:** 8 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53765, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53765, GHSA-6896-p3f9-6xww, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2023-53765, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2023-53765, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53765

## What is CVE-2023-53765?

CVE-2023-53765 is an use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 8 Dec 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:

dm cache: free background tracker's queued work in btracker_destroy

Otherwise the kernel can BUG with:

[ 2245.426978] =============================================================================
[ 2245.435155] BUG bt_work (Tainted: G    B   W         ): Objects remaining in bt_work on __kmem_cache_shutdown()
[ 2245.445233] -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ 2245.445233]
[ 2245.454879] Slab 0x00000000b0ce2b30 objects=64 used=2 fp=0x000000000a3c6a4e flags=0x17ffffc0000200(slab|node=0|zone=2|lastcpupid=0x1fffff)
[ 2245.467300] CPU: 7 PID: 10805 Comm: lvm Kdump: loaded Tainted: G    B   W          6.0.0-rc2 #19
[ 2245.476078] Hardware name: Dell Inc. PowerEdge R7525/0590KW, BIOS 2.5.6 10/06/2021
[ 2245.483646] Call Trace:
[ 2245.486100]  <TASK>
[ 2245.488206]  dump_stack_lvl+0x34/0x48
[ 2245.491878]  slab_err+0x95/0xcd
[ 2245.495028]  __kmem_cache_shutdown.cold+0x31/0x136
[ 2245.499821]  kmem_cache_destroy+0x49/0x130
[ 2245.503928]  btracker_destroy+0x12/0x20 [dm_cache]
[ 2245.508728]  smq_destroy+0x15/0x60 [dm_cache_smq]
[ 2245.513435]  dm_cache_policy_destroy+0x12/0x20 [dm_cache]
[ 2245.518834]  destroy+0xc0/0x110 [dm_cache]
[ 2245.522933]  dm_table_destroy+0x5c/0x120 [dm_mod]
[ 2245.527649]  __dm_destroy+0x10e/0x1c0 [dm_mod]
[ 2245.532102]  dev_remove+0x117/0x190 [dm_mod]
[ 2245.536384]  ctl_ioctl+0x1a2/0x290 [dm_mod]
[ 2245.540579]  dm_ctl_ioctl+0xa/0x20 [dm_mod]
[ 2245.544773]  __x64_sys_ioctl+0x8a/0xc0
[ 2245.548524]  do_syscall_64+0x5c/0x90
[ 2245.552104]  ? syscall_exit_to_user_mode+0x12/0x30
[ 2245.556897]  ? do_syscall_64+0x69/0x90
[ 2245.560648]  ? do_syscall_64+0x69/0x90
[ 2245.564394]  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd
[ 2245.569447] RIP: 0033:0x7fe52583ec6b
...
[ 2245.646771] ------------[ cut here ]------------
[ 2245.651395] kmem_cache_destroy bt_work: Slab cache still has objects when called from btracker_destroy+0x12/0x20 [dm_cache]
[ 2245.651408] WARNING: CPU: 7 PID: 10805 at mm/slab_common.c:478 kmem_cache_destroy+0x128/0x130

Found using: lvm2-testsuite --only "cache-single-split.sh"

Ben bisected and found that commit 0495e337b703 ("mm/slab_common:
Deleting kobject in kmem_cache_destroy() without holding
slab_mutex/cpu_hotplug_lock") first exposed dm-cache's incomplete
cleanup of its background tracker work objects.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53765?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-53765?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53765 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53765 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-53765 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53765 is an use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 8 Dec 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-2023-53765 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-2023-53765/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53765/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53765
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53765
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53765

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53765/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.