# CVE-2023-54268: debugobjects: Don't wake up kswapd from fill_pool()

> A locking issue in the Linux kernel debugobjects subsystem can cause a deadlock or system hang when memory allocation triggers kswapd wakeups.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **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-2023-54268, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54268, GHSA-wfjg-crvw-f25h, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54268

## What is CVE-2023-54268?

CVE-2023-54268 is a denial of service 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:

debugobjects: Don't wake up kswapd from fill_pool()

syzbot is reporting a lockdep warning in fill_pool() because the allocation
from debugobjects is using GFP_ATOMIC, which is (__GFP_HIGH | __GFP_KSWAPD_RECLAIM)
and therefore tries to wake up kswapd, which acquires kswapd_wait::lock.

Since fill_pool() might be called with arbitrary locks held, fill_pool()
should not assume that acquiring kswapd_wait::lock is safe.

Use __GFP_HIGH instead and remove __GFP_NORETRY as it is pointless for
!__GFP_DIRECT_RECLAIM allocation.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-54268?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-54268?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-54268 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54268 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-54268 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-54268 is a denial of service 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-2023-54268 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-2023-54268/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54268/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-54268
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-54268
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-54268

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54268/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.