# CVE-2023-54086: bpf: Add preempt_count_{sub,add} into btf id deny list

> A local attacker with high privileges can trigger a kernel panic via BPF trampoline recursion, causing a denial of service.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 24 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-54086, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54086, GHSA-73pg-78qv-48m9, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54086

## What is CVE-2023-54086?

CVE-2023-54086 is a denial of service 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: Add preempt_count_{sub,add} into btf id deny list

The recursion check in __bpf_prog_enter* and __bpf_prog_exit*
leave preempt_count_{sub,add} unprotected. When attaching trampoline to
them we get panic as follows,

[  867.843050] BUG: TASK stack guard page was hit at 0000000009d325cf (stack is 0000000046a46a15..00000000537e7b28)
[  867.843064] stack guard page: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI
[  867.843067] CPU: 8 PID: 11009 Comm: trace Kdump: loaded Not tainted 6.2.0+ #4
[  867.843100] Call Trace:
[  867.843101]  <TASK>
[  867.843104]  asm_exc_int3+0x3a/0x40
[  867.843108] RIP: 0010:preempt_count_sub+0x1/0xa0
[  867.843135]  __bpf_prog_enter_recur+0x17/0x90
[  867.843148]  bpf_trampoline_6442468108_0+0x2e/0x1000
[  867.843154]  ? preempt_count_sub+0x1/0xa0
[  867.843157]  preempt_count_sub+0x5/0xa0
[  867.843159]  ? migrate_enable+0xac/0xf0
[  867.843164]  __bpf_prog_exit_recur+0x2d/0x40
[  867.843168]  bpf_trampoline_6442468108_0+0x55/0x1000
...
[  867.843788]  preempt_count_sub+0x5/0xa0
[  867.843793]  ? migrate_enable+0xac/0xf0
[  867.843829]  __bpf_prog_exit_recur+0x2d/0x40
[  867.843837] BUG: IRQ stack guard page was hit at 0000000099bd8228 (stack is 00000000b23e2bc4..000000006d95af35)
[  867.843841] BUG: IRQ stack guard page was hit at 000000005ae07924 (stack is 00000000ffd69623..0000000014eb594c)
[  867.843843] BUG: IRQ stack guard page was hit at 00000000028320f0 (stack is 00000000034b6438..0000000078d1bcec)
[  867.843842]  bpf_trampoline_6442468108_0+0x55/0x1000
...

That is because in __bpf_prog_exit_recur, the preempt_count_{sub,add} are
called after prog->active is decreased.

Fixing this by adding these two functions into btf ids deny list.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-54086?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-54086?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-54086 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54086 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-54086 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-54086 is a denial of service 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-2023-54086 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-2023-54086/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54086/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-54086
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-54086
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-54086

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54086/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.