# CVE-2023-54173: bpf: Disable preemption in bpf_event_output

> A race condition in the Linux kernel's BPF event output allows concurrent tasks to corrupt shared buffers, causing kernel crashes and denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **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:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-54173, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54173, GHSA-m688-w5rr-prwm, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54173

## What is CVE-2023-54173?

CVE-2023-54173 is a high-severity 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:

bpf: Disable preemption in bpf_event_output

We received report [1] of kernel crash, which is caused by
using nesting protection without disabled preemption.

The bpf_event_output can be called by programs executed by
bpf_prog_run_array_cg function that disabled migration but
keeps preemption enabled.

This can cause task to be preempted by another one inside the
nesting protection and lead eventually to two tasks using same
perf_sample_data buffer and cause crashes like:

  BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000001
  #PF: supervisor instruction fetch in kernel mode
  #PF: error_code(0x0010) - not-present page
  ...
  ? perf_output_sample+0x12a/0x9a0
  ? finish_task_switch.isra.0+0x81/0x280
  ? perf_event_output+0x66/0xa0
  ? bpf_event_output+0x13a/0x190
  ? bpf_event_output_data+0x22/0x40
  ? bpf_prog_dfc84bbde731b257_cil_sock4_connect+0x40a/0xacb
  ? xa_load+0x87/0xe0
  ? __cgroup_bpf_run_filter_sock_addr+0xc1/0x1a0
  ? release_sock+0x3e/0x90
  ? sk_setsockopt+0x1a1/0x12f0
  ? udp_pre_connect+0x36/0x50
  ? inet_dgram_connect+0x93/0xa0
  ? __sys_connect+0xb4/0xe0
  ? udp_setsockopt+0x27/0x40
  ? __pfx_udp_push_pending_frames+0x10/0x10
  ? __sys_setsockopt+0xdf/0x1a0
  ? __x64_sys_connect+0xf/0x20
  ? do_syscall_64+0x3a/0x90
  ? entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x72/0xdc

Fixing this by disabling preemption in bpf_event_output.

[1] https://github.com/cilium/cilium/issues/26756

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-54173?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-54173?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-54173 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54173 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-54173 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-54173 is a high-severity 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-2023-54173 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-2023-54173/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54173/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-54173
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-54173
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-54173

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54173/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.