CVE-2023-53790

EPSS 0.0%
  • Published: 2025-12-09T01:16:50.447

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

bpf: Zeroing allocated object from slab in bpf memory allocator

Currently the freed element in bpf memory allocator may be immediately
reused, for htab map the reuse will reinitialize special fields in map
value (e.g., bpf_spin_lock), but lookup procedure may still access
these special fields, and it may lead to hard-lockup as shown below:

NMI backtrace for cpu 16
CPU: 16 PID: 2574 Comm: htab.bin Tainted: G L 6.1.0+ #1
Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996),
RIP: 0010:queued_spin_lock_slowpath+0x283/0x2c0
……
Call Trace:

copy_map_value_locked+0xb7/0x170
bpf_map_copy_value+0x113/0x3c0
__sys_bpf+0x1c67/0x2780
__x64_sys_bpf+0x1c/0x20
do_syscall_64+0x30/0x60
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0
……

For htab map, just like the preallocated case, these is no need to
initialize these special fields in map value again once these fields
have been initialized. For preallocated htab map, these fields are
initialized through __GFP_ZERO in bpf_map_area_alloc(), so do the
similar thing for non-preallocated htab in bpf memory allocator. And
there is no need to use __GFP_ZERO for per-cpu bpf memory allocator,
because __alloc_percpu_gfp() does it implicitly.

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-2023-53790

CVE-2023-53790 is a unknown severity vulnerability affecting the affected product.

Description: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Zeroing allocated object from slab in bpf memory allocator Currently the freed element in bpf memory allocator may be immediately reused, for htab map the reuse will reinitialize special fields in map value (e.g., bpf_spin_lock), but lookup procedure may still access these special fields, […]

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

Dec 09, 2025
Vulnerability Published

CVE details first published to NVD database

Dec 09, 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.