# CVE-2023-54033: bpf: fix a memory leak in the LRU and LRU_PERCPU hash maps

> A memory leak in Linux kernel BPF LRU maps allows local attackers to exhaust memory, causing denial of service.

- **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:** 24 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-54033, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54033, GHSA-hcpj-xwwg-jgh9, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54033

## What is CVE-2023-54033?

CVE-2023-54033 is a memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 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:

bpf: fix a memory leak in the LRU and LRU_PERCPU hash maps

The LRU and LRU_PERCPU maps allocate a new element on update before locking the
target hash table bucket. Right after that the maps try to lock the bucket.
If this fails, then maps return -EBUSY to the caller without releasing the
allocated element. This makes the element untracked: it doesn't belong to
either of free lists, and it doesn't belong to the hash table, so can't be
re-used; this eventually leads to the permanent -ENOMEM on LRU map updates,
which is unexpected. Fix this by returning the element to the local free list
if bucket locking fails.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-54033?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-54033?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-54033 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54033 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-54033 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-54033 is a memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 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-2023-54033 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-2023-54033/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54033/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-54033
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-54033
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-54033

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54033/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.