CVE-2023-53441

MEDIUM
Published Sep 18, 2025 Modified Jan 14, 2026 CWE-401

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: cpumap: Fix memory leak in cpu_map_update_elem Syzkaller reported a memory leak as follows: BUG: memory leak unreferenced object 0xff110001198ef748 (size 192): comm "syz-executor.3", pid 17672, jiffies 4298118891 (age 9.906s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 00 00 00 00 4a 19 00 00 80 ad e3 e4 fe ff c0 00 ....J........... 00 b2 d3 0c 01 00 11 ff 28 f5 8e 19 01 00 11 ff ........(....... backtrace: [<ffffffffadd28087>] __cpu_map_entry_alloc+0xf7/0xb00 [<ffffffffadd28d8e>] cpu_map_update_elem+0x2fe/0x3d0 [<ffffffffadc6d0fd>] bpf_map_update_value.isra.0+0x2bd/0x520 [<ffffffffadc7349b>] map_update_elem+0x4cb/0x720 [<ffffffffadc7d983>] __se_sys_bpf+0x8c3/0xb90 [<ffffffffb029cc80>] do_syscall_64+0x30/0x40 [<ffffffffb0400099>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x61/0xc6 BUG: memory leak unreferenced object 0xff110001198ef528 (size 192): comm "syz-executor.3", pid 17672, jiffies 4298118891 (age 9.906s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ backtrace: [<ffffffffadd281f0>] __cpu_map_entry_alloc+0x260/0xb00 [<ffffffffadd28d8e>] cpu_map_update_elem+0x2fe/0x3d0 [<ffffffffadc6d0fd>] bpf_map_update_value.isra.0+0x2bd/0x520 [<ffffffffadc7349b>] map_update_elem+0x4cb/0x720 [<ffffffffadc7d983>] __se_sys_bpf+0x8c3/0xb90 [<ffffffffb029cc80>] do_syscall_64+0x30/0x40 [<ffffffffb0400099>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x61/0xc6 BUG: memory leak unreferenced object 0xff1100010fd93d68 (size 8): comm "syz-executor.3", pid 17672, jiffies 4298118891 (age 9.906s) hex dump (first 8 bytes): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........ backtrace: [<ffffffffade5db3e>] kvmalloc_node+0x11e/0x170 [<ffffffffadd28280>] __cpu_map_entry_alloc+0x2f0/0xb00 [<ffffffffadd28d8e>] cpu_map_update_elem+0x2fe/0x3d0 [<ffffffffadc6d0fd>] bpf_map_update_value.isra.0+0x2bd/0x520 [<ffffffffadc7349b>] map_update_elem+0x4cb/0x720 [<ffffffffadc7d983>] __se_sys_bpf+0x8c3/0xb90 [<ffffffffb029cc80>] do_syscall_64+0x30/0x40 [<ffffffffb0400099>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x61/0xc6 In the cpu_map_update_elem flow, when kthread_stop is called before calling the threadfn of rcpu->kthread, since the KTHREAD_SHOULD_STOP bit of kthread has been set by kthread_stop, the threadfn of rcpu->kthread will never be executed, and rcpu->refcnt will never be 0, which will lead to the allocated rcpu, rcpu->queue and rcpu->queue->queue cannot be released. Calling kthread_stop before executing kthread's threadfn will return -EINTR. We can complete the release of memory resources in this state.

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CVSS v3.1 Score

5.5
MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-401 CWE-401

Affected Products

Vendor Product
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-53441? +
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: cpumap: Fix memory leak in cpu_map_update_elem Syzkaller reported a memory leak as follows: BUG: memory leak unreferenced object 0xff110001198ef748 (size 192): comm "syz-executor.3", pid 17672, jiffies 4298118891 (age 9.906s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 00 00 00 00 4a 19 00 00 80 ad e3 e4 fe ff c0 00 ....J........... 00 b2 d3 0c 01 00 11 ff 28 f5 8e 19 01 00 11 ff ........(....... backtrace: [<ffffffffadd28087>] __cpu_map_entry_alloc+0xf7/0xb00 [<ffffffffadd28d8e>] cpu_map_update_elem+0x2fe/0x3d0 [<ffffffffadc6d0fd>] bpf_map_update_value.isra.0+0x2bd/0x520 [<ffffffffadc7349b>] map_update_elem+0x4cb/0x720 [<ffffffffadc7d983>] __se_sys_bpf+0x8c3/0xb90 [<ffffffffb029cc80>] do_syscall_64+0x30/0x40 [<ffffffffb0400099>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x61/0xc6 BUG: memory leak unreferenced object 0xff110001198ef528 (size 192): comm "syz-executor.3", pid 17672, jiffies 4298118891 (age 9.906s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ backtrace: [<ffffffffadd281f0>] __cpu_map_entry_alloc+0x260/0xb00 [<ffffffffadd28d8e>] cpu_map_update_elem+0x2fe/0x3d0 [<ffffffffadc6d0fd>] bpf_map_update_value.isra.0+0x2bd/0x520 [<ffffffffadc7349b>] map_update_elem+0x4cb/0x720 [<ffffffffadc7d983>] __se_sys_bpf+0x8c3/0xb90 [<ffffffffb029cc80>] do_syscall_64+0x30/0x40 [<ffffffffb0400099>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x61/0xc6 BUG: memory leak unreferenced object 0xff1100010fd93d68 (size 8): comm "syz-executor.3", pid 17672, jiffies 4298118891 (age 9.906s) hex dump (first 8 bytes): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........ backtrace: [<ffffffffade5db3e>] kvmalloc_node+0x11e/0x170 [<ffffffffadd28280>] __cpu_map_entry_alloc+0x2f0/0xb00 [<ffffffffadd28d8e>] cpu_map_update_elem+0x2fe/0x3d0 [<ffffffffadc6d0fd>] bpf_map_update_value.isra.0+0x2bd/0x520 [<ffffffffadc7349b>] map_update_elem+0x4cb/0x720 [<ffffffffadc7d983>] __se_sys_bpf+0x8c3/0xb90 [<ffffffffb029cc80>] do_syscall_64+0x30/0x40 [<ffffffffb0400099>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x61/0xc6 In the cpu_map_update_elem flow, when kthread_stop is called before calling the threadfn of rcpu->kthread, since the KTHREAD_SHOULD_STOP bit of kthread has been set by kthread_stop, the threadfn of rcpu->kthread will never be executed, and rcpu->refcnt will never be 0, which will lead to the allocated rcpu, rcpu->queue and rcpu->queue->queue cannot be released. Calling kthread_stop before executing kthread's threadfn will return -EINTR. We can complete the release of memory resources in this state. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.5 (MEDIUM).
How severe is CVE-2023-53441? +
CVE-2023-53441 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 5.5 out of 10, rated MEDIUM. This is a medium-severity vulnerability that should be remediated as part of regular maintenance.
What products are affected by CVE-2023-53441? +
CVE-2023-53441 affects products from linux, specifically: linux_kernel. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.
How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2023-53441? +
You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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