CVE-2023-54165

EPSS 0.0%
  • Published: 2025-12-30T13:16:04.283

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

zsmalloc: move LRU update from zs_map_object() to zs_malloc()

Under memory pressure, we sometimes observe the following crash:

[ 5694.832838] ————[ cut here ]————
[ 5694.842093] list_del corruption, ffff888014b6a448->next is LIST_POISON1 (dead000000000100)
[ 5694.858677] WARNING: CPU: 33 PID: 418824 at lib/list_debug.c:47 __list_del_entry_valid+0x42/0x80
[ 5694.961820] CPU: 33 PID: 418824 Comm: fuse_counters.s Kdump: loaded Tainted: G S 5.19.0-0_fbk3_rc3_hoangnhatpzsdynshrv41_10870_g85a9558a25de #1
[ 5694.990194] Hardware name: Wiwynn Twin Lakes MP/Twin Lakes Passive MP, BIOS YMM16 05/24/2021
[ 5695.007072] RIP: 0010:__list_del_entry_valid+0x42/0x80
[ 5695.017351] Code: 08 48 83 c2 22 48 39 d0 74 24 48 8b 10 48 39 f2 75 2c 48 8b 51 08 b0 01 48 39 f2 75 34 c3 48 c7 c7 55 d7 78 82 e8 4e 45 3b 00 0b eb 31 48 c7 c7 27 a8 70 82 e8 3e 45 3b 00 0f 0b eb 21 48 c7
[ 5695.054919] RSP: 0018:ffffc90027aef4f0 EFLAGS: 00010246
[ 5695.065366] RAX: 41fe484987275300 RBX: ffff888008988180 RCX: 0000000000000000
[ 5695.079636] RDX: ffff88886006c280 RSI: ffff888860060480 RDI: ffff888860060480
[ 5695.093904] RBP: 0000000000000002 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: ffffc90027aef370
[ 5695.108175] R10: 0000000000000000 R11: ffffffff82fdf1c0 R12: 0000000010000002
[ 5695.122447] R13: ffff888014b6a448 R14: ffff888014b6a420 R15: 00000000138dc240
[ 5695.136717] FS: 00007f23a7d3f740(0000) GS:ffff888860040000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
[ 5695.152899] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
[ 5695.164388] CR2: 0000560ceaab6ac0 CR3: 000000001c06c001 CR4: 00000000007706e0
[ 5695.178659] DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000
[ 5695.192927] DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400
[ 5695.207197] PKRU: 55555554
[ 5695.212602] Call Trace:
[ 5695.217486]
[ 5695.221674] zs_map_object+0x91/0x270
[ 5695.229000] zswap_frontswap_store+0x33d/0x870
[ 5695.237885] ? do_raw_spin_lock+0x5d/0xa0
[ 5695.245899] __frontswap_store+0x51/0xb0
[ 5695.253742] swap_writepage+0x3c/0x60
[ 5695.261063] shrink_page_list+0x738/0x1230
[ 5695.269255] shrink_lruvec+0x5ec/0xcd0
[ 5695.276749] ? shrink_slab+0x187/0x5f0
[ 5695.284240] ? mem_cgroup_iter+0x6e/0x120
[ 5695.292255] shrink_node+0x293/0x7b0
[ 5695.299402] do_try_to_free_pages+0xea/0x550
[ 5695.307940] try_to_free_pages+0x19a/0x490
[ 5695.316126] __folio_alloc+0x19ff/0x3e40
[ 5695.323971] ? __filemap_get_folio+0x8a/0x4e0
[ 5695.332681] ? walk_component+0x2a8/0xb50
[ 5695.340697] ? generic_permission+0xda/0x2a0
[ 5695.349231] ? __filemap_get_folio+0x8a/0x4e0
[ 5695.357940] ? walk_component+0x2a8/0xb50
[ 5695.365955] vma_alloc_folio+0x10e/0x570
[ 5695.373796] ? walk_component+0x52/0xb50
[ 5695.381634] wp_page_copy+0x38c/0xc10
[ 5695.388953] ? filename_lookup+0x378/0xbc0
[ 5695.397140] handle_mm_fault+0x87f/0x1800
[ 5695.405157] do_user_addr_fault+0x1bd/0x570
[ 5695.413520] exc_page_fault+0x5d/0x110
[ 5695.421017] asm_exc_page_fault+0x22/0x30

After some investigation, I have found the following issue: unlike other
zswap backends, zsmalloc performs the LRU list update at the object
mapping time, rather than when the slot for the object is allocated.
This deviation was discussed and agreed upon during the review process
of the zsmalloc writeback patch series:

https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/Y3flcAXNxxrvy3ZH@cmpxchg.org/

Unfortunately, this introduces a subtle bug that occurs when there is a
concurrent store and reclaim, which interleave as follows:

zswap_frontswap_store() shrink_worker()
zs_malloc() zs_zpool_shrink()
spin_lock(&pool->lock) zs_reclaim_page()
zspage = find_get_zspage()
spin_unlock(&pool->lock)
spin_lock(&pool->lock)
zspage = list_first_entry(&pool->lru)

—truncated—

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How to fix CVE-2023-54165

CVE-2023-54165 is a unknown severity vulnerability affecting the affected product.

Description: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: zsmalloc: move LRU update from zs_map_object() to zs_malloc() Under memory pressure, we sometimes observe the following crash: [ 5694.832838] ————[ cut here ]———— [ 5694.842093] list_del corruption, ffff888014b6a448->next is LIST_POISON1 (dead000000000100) [ 5694.858677] WARNING: CPU: 33 PID: 418824 at lib/list_debug.c:47 __list_del_entry_valid+0x42/0x80 [ 5694.961820] CPU: 33 […]

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

Vendor Advisory: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/Y3flcAXNxxrvy3ZH@cmpxchg.org/

Exploit Difficulty Assessment

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

Vulnerability Timeline

Dec 30, 2025
Vulnerability Published

CVE details first published to NVD database

Dec 30, 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.