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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2023-53560

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-10-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.19.291 / 5.4.251 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tracing/histograms: Add histograms to hist_vars if they have referenced variables Hist triggers can have referenced variables without having direct variables fields. This can be the case if referenced variables are added for trigger actions. In this case the newly added references will not have field variables. Not taking such referenced variables into consideration can result in a bug where it would be possible to remove hist trigger with variables being refenced. This will result in a bug that is easily reproducable like so $ cd /sys/kernel/tracing $ echo 'synthetic_sys_enter char[] comm; long id' >> synthetic_events $ echo 'hist:keys=common_pid.execname,id.syscall:vals=hitcount:comm=common_pid.execname' >> events/raw_syscalls/sys_enter/trigger $ echo 'hist:keys=common_pid.execname,id.syscall:onmatch(raw_syscalls.sys_enter).synthetic_sys_enter($comm, id)' >> events/raw_syscalls/sys_enter/trigger $ echo '!hist:keys=common_pid.execname,id.syscall:vals=hitcount:comm=common_pid.execname' >> events/raw_syscalls/sys_enter/trigger [ 100.263533] ================================================================== [ 100.264634] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in resolve_var_refs+0xc7/0x180 [ 100.265520] Read of size 8 at addr ffff88810375d0f0 by task bash/439 [ 100.266320] [ 100.266533] CPU: 2 PID: 439 Comm: bash Not tainted 6.5.0-rc1 #4 [ 100.267277] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.0-20220807_005459-localhost 04/01/2014 [ 100.268561] Call Trace: [ 100.268902] <TASK> [ 100.269189] dump_stack_lvl+0x4c/0x70 [ 100.269680] print_report+0xc5/0x600 [ 100.270165] ? resolve_var_refs+0xc7/0x180 [ 100.270697] ? kasan_complete_mode_report_info+0x80/0x1f0 [ 100.271389] ? resolve_var_refs+0xc7/0x180 [ 100.271913] kasan_report+0xbd/0x100 [ 100.272380] ? resolve_var_refs+0xc7/0x180 [ 100.272920] __asan_load8+0x71/0xa0 [ 100.273377] resolve_var_refs+0xc7/0x180 [ 100.273888] event_hist_trigger+0x749/0x860 [ 100.274505] ? kasan_save_stack+0x2a/0x50 [ 100.275024] ? kasan_set_track+0x29/0x40 [ 100.275536] ? __pfx_event_hist_trigger+0x10/0x10 [ 100.276138] ? ksys_write+0xd1/0x170 [ 100.276607] ? do_syscall_64+0x3c/0x90 [ 100.277099] ? entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x6e/0xd8 [ 100.277771] ? destroy_hist_data+0x446/0x470 [ 100.278324] ? event_hist_trigger_parse+0xa6c/0x3860 [ 100.278962] ? __pfx_event_hist_trigger_parse+0x10/0x10 [ 100.279627] ? __kasan_check_write+0x18/0x20 [ 100.280177] ? mutex_unlock+0x85/0xd0 [ 100.280660] ? __pfx_mutex_unlock+0x10/0x10 [ 100.281200] ? kfree+0x7b/0x120 [ 100.281619] ? ____kasan_slab_free+0x15d/0x1d0 [ 100.282197] ? event_trigger_write+0xac/0x100 [ 100.282764] ? __kasan_slab_free+0x16/0x20 [ 100.283293] ? __kmem_cache_free+0x153/0x2f0 [ 100.283844] ? sched_mm_cid_remote_clear+0xb1/0x250 [ 100.284550] ? __pfx_sched_mm_cid_remote_clear+0x10/0x10 [ 100.285221] ? event_trigger_write+0xbc/0x100 [ 100.285781] ? __kasan_check_read+0x15/0x20 [ 100.286321] ? __bitmap_weight+0x66/0xa0 [ 100.286833] ? _find_next_bit+0x46/0xe0 [ 100.287334] ? task_mm_cid_work+0x37f/0x450 [ 100.287872] event_triggers_call+0x84/0x150 [ 100.288408] trace_event_buffer_commit+0x339/0x430 [ 100.289073] ? ring_buffer_event_data+0x3f/0x60 [ 100.292189] trace_event_raw_event_sys_enter+0x8b/0xe0 [ 100.295434] syscall_trace_enter.constprop.0+0x18f/0x1b0 [ 100.298653] syscall_enter_from_user_mode+0x32/0x40 [ 100.301808] do_syscall_64+0x1a/0x90 [ 100.304748] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x6e/0xd8 [ 100.307775] RIP: 0033:0x7f686c75c1cb [ 100.310617] Code: 73 01 c3 48 8b 0d 65 3c 10 00 f7 d8 64 89 01 48 83 c8 ff c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 90 f3 0f 1e fa b8 21 00 00 00 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 8b 0d 35 3c 10 00 f7 d8 64 89 01 48 [ 100.317847] RSP: 002b:00007ffc60137a38 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000021 [ 100.321200] RA ---truncated---

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-416

Memory is used after it has been freed, so its contents — now potentially attacker-controlled — drive the program's behaviour. With careful heap grooming this becomes code execution. The fix requires disciplined ownership of memory and often a targeted rework of the object lifecycle.

General guidance for the use after free class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 4.17, < 4.19.291>= 4.20, < 5.4.251>= 5.5, < 5.10.188>= 5.11, < 5.15.121>= 5.16, < 6.1.40>= 6.2, < 6.4.5= 6.5

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 4.19.291 / 5.4.251 / 5.10.188 or later
Fixed in 4.19.2915.4.2515.10.188
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel >= 4.19.291 (for 4.19.x), >= 5.4.251 (for 5.4.x), >= 5.10.188 (for 5.10.x), or >= 5.15.121 (for 5.15.x)

  1. Identify the currently running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Determine which version branch your kernel is on (4.19, 5.4, 5.10, or 5.15)
  3. Upgrade to a patched kernel version: For 4.19.x branch upgrade to >= 4.19.291; For 5.4.x branch upgrade to >= 5.4.251; For 5.10.x branch upgrade to >= 5.10.188; For 5.15.x branch upgrade to >= 5.15.121
  4. On Debian/Ubuntu: `sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade` followed by reboot
  5. On RHEL/CentOS: `sudo yum update kernel` followed by reboot
  6. On Fedora: `sudo dnf update kernel` followed by reboot
  7. Verify the new kernel is running and the vulnerability is resolved
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could introduce compatibility issues with custom modules or specific hardware drivers; test in staging environment first

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $3,200. Get the upgrade done

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-53560 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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