# CVE-2023-54171: tracing: Fix memory leak of iter->temp when reading trace_pipe

> A memory leak in the Linux kernel tracing subsystem allows local attackers to exhaust system memory by repeatedly reading trace_pipe, 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:** 30 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-54171, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54171, GHSA-rgpm-wqmc-fmj4, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54171

## What is CVE-2023-54171?

CVE-2023-54171 is a memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 30 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:

tracing: Fix memory leak of iter->temp when reading trace_pipe

kmemleak reports:
  unreferenced object 0xffff88814d14e200 (size 256):
    comm "cat", pid 336, jiffies 4294871818 (age 779.490s)
    hex dump (first 32 bytes):
      04 00 01 03 00 00 00 00 08 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  ................
      0c d8 c8 9b ff ff ff ff 04 5a ca 9b ff ff ff ff  .........Z......
    backtrace:
      [<ffffffff9bdff18f>] __kmalloc+0x4f/0x140
      [<ffffffff9bc9238b>] trace_find_next_entry+0xbb/0x1d0
      [<ffffffff9bc9caef>] trace_print_lat_context+0xaf/0x4e0
      [<ffffffff9bc94490>] print_trace_line+0x3e0/0x950
      [<ffffffff9bc95499>] tracing_read_pipe+0x2d9/0x5a0
      [<ffffffff9bf03a43>] vfs_read+0x143/0x520
      [<ffffffff9bf04c2d>] ksys_read+0xbd/0x160
      [<ffffffff9d0f0edf>] do_syscall_64+0x3f/0x90
      [<ffffffff9d2000aa>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x6e/0xd8

when reading file 'trace_pipe', 'iter->temp' is allocated or relocated
in trace_find_next_entry() but not freed before 'trace_pipe' is closed.

To fix it, free 'iter->temp' in tracing_release_pipe().

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-54171?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-54171?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-54171 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54171 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-54171 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-54171 is a memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 30 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-2023-54171 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-2023-54171/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54171/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-54171
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-54171
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-54171

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54171/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.