CVE-2023-53441

  • Published: 2025-09-18T16:15:48.353

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:
[] __cpu_map_entry_alloc+0xf7/0xb00
[] cpu_map_update_elem+0x2fe/0x3d0
[] bpf_map_update_value.isra.0+0x2bd/0x520
[] map_update_elem+0x4cb/0x720
[] __se_sys_bpf+0x8c3/0xb90
[] do_syscall_64+0x30/0x40
[] 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:
[] __cpu_map_entry_alloc+0x260/0xb00
[] cpu_map_update_elem+0x2fe/0x3d0
[] bpf_map_update_value.isra.0+0x2bd/0x520
[] map_update_elem+0x4cb/0x720
[] __se_sys_bpf+0x8c3/0xb90
[] do_syscall_64+0x30/0x40
[] 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:
[] kvmalloc_node+0x11e/0x170
[] __cpu_map_entry_alloc+0x2f0/0xb00
[] cpu_map_update_elem+0x2fe/0x3d0
[] bpf_map_update_value.isra.0+0x2bd/0x520
[] map_update_elem+0x4cb/0x720
[] __se_sys_bpf+0x8c3/0xb90
[] do_syscall_64+0x30/0x40
[] 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.

Related CVE by CWE

No related CWE found.

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No recent KEV-listed items for this vendor/product.

How to fix CVE-2023-53441

CVE-2023-53441 is a unknown severity vulnerability affecting the affected product.

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 […]

Exploit Difficulty: HARD
⏱️ Time to exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Required skills: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public exploits: Rare or not public

How to Fix:

1 Identify affected systems

- Check if you're running the affected product

2 Immediate actions

- Update to the latest patched version
- If patching is not immediately possible: restrict network exposure, apply least-privilege access

3 Verification

- Test the fix in a staging environment first
- Review logs for signs of exploitation
- Monitor for IOCs (Indicators of Compromise)

4 Long-term prevention

- Enable automatic security updates
- Set up vulnerability monitoring
- Review and harden security configurations

Exploit Difficulty Assessment

HARD
⏱️ Time to Exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Skills Required: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public Exploits: Rare or not public

Vulnerability Timeline

Sep 18, 2025
Vulnerability Published

CVE details first published to NVD database

Nov 12, 2025
Imported to Database

Added to this CVE tracking system

Detection Rules & IOCs

No specific detection rules generated for this vulnerability type.

No vendor/product data available.