CVE-2023-52992: bpf: Skip task with pid=1 in send_signal_common()

Severity: medium (CVSS 5.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.3% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2025-03-27 · updated 2026-06-17

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Skip task with pid=1 in send_signal_common() The following kernel panic can be triggered when a task with pid=1 attaches a prog that attempts to send killing signal to itself, also see [1] for more details: Kernel panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init! exitcode=0x0000000b CPU: 3 PID: 1 Comm: systemd Not tainted 6.1.0-09652-g59fe41b5255f #148 Call Trace: <TASK> __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:88 [inline] dump_stack_lvl+0x100/0x178 lib/dump_stack.c:106 panic+0x2c4/0x60f kernel/panic.c:275 do_exit.cold+0x63/0xe4 kernel/exit.c:789 do_group_exit+0xd4/0x2a0 kernel/exit.c:950 get_signal+0x2460/0x2600 kernel/signal.c:2858 arch_do_signal_or_restart+0x78/0x5d0 arch/x86/kernel/signal.c:306 exit_to_user_mode_loop kernel/entry/common.c:168 [inline] exit_to_user_mode_prepare+0x15f/0x250 kernel/entry/common.c:203 __syscall_exit_to_user_mode_work kernel/entry/common.c:285 [inline] syscall_exit_to_user_mode+0x1d/0x50 kernel/entry/common.c:296 do_syscall_64+0x44/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:86 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd So skip task with pid=1 in bpf_send_signal_common() to avoid the panic. [1] https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20221222043507.33037-1-sunhao.th@gmail.com

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 5.3 before 5.4.231; from 5.5 before 5.10.167; from 5.11 before 5.15.92; from 5.16 before 6.1.10; 6.2-rc1, 6.2-rc2, 6.2-rc3, 6.2-rc4 — fixed in 5.10.167, 5.15.92, 5.4.231, 6.1.10

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 5.10.167, 5.15.92, 5.4.231, 6.1.10. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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