CVE-2023-53577

  • Published: 2025-10-04T16:15:53.363

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

bpf, cpumap: Make sure kthread is running before map update returns

The following warning was reported when running stress-mode enabled
xdp_redirect_cpu with some RT threads:

————[ cut here ]————
WARNING: CPU: 4 PID: 65 at kernel/bpf/cpumap.c:135
CPU: 4 PID: 65 Comm: kworker/4:1 Not tainted 6.5.0-rc2+ #1
Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996)
Workqueue: events cpu_map_kthread_stop
RIP: 0010:put_cpu_map_entry+0xda/0x220
……
Call Trace:

? show_regs+0x65/0x70
? __warn+0xa5/0x240
……
? put_cpu_map_entry+0xda/0x220
cpu_map_kthread_stop+0x41/0x60
process_one_work+0x6b0/0xb80
worker_thread+0x96/0x720
kthread+0x1a5/0x1f0
ret_from_fork+0x3a/0x70
ret_from_fork_asm+0x1b/0x30

The root cause is the same as commit 436901649731 (“bpf: cpumap: Fix memory
leak in cpu_map_update_elem”). The kthread is stopped prematurely by
kthread_stop() in cpu_map_kthread_stop(), and kthread() doesn’t call
cpu_map_kthread_run() at all but XDP program has already queued some
frames or skbs into ptr_ring. So when __cpu_map_ring_cleanup() checks
the ptr_ring, it will find it was not emptied and report a warning.

An alternative fix is to use __cpu_map_ring_cleanup() to drop these
pending frames or skbs when kthread_stop() returns -EINTR, but it may
confuse the user, because these frames or skbs have been handled
correctly by XDP program. So instead of dropping these frames or skbs,
just make sure the per-cpu kthread is running before
__cpu_map_entry_alloc() returns.

After apply the fix, the error handle for kthread_stop() will be
unnecessary because it will always return 0, so just remove it.

Related CVE by CWE

No related CWE found.

Top CVE for Vendor

No vendor taxonomy on this entry.

Recently Exploited Similar Vulnerabilities

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

How to fix CVE-2023-53577

CVE-2023-53577 is a unknown severity vulnerability affecting the affected product.

Description: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf, cpumap: Make sure kthread is running before map update returns The following warning was reported when running stress-mode enabled xdp_redirect_cpu with some RT threads: ————[ cut here ]———— WARNING: CPU: 4 PID: 65 at kernel/bpf/cpumap.c:135 CPU: 4 PID: 65 Comm: kworker/4:1 Not tainted 6.5.0-rc2+ […]

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

Oct 04, 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.