CVE-2023-53167: tracing: Fix null pointer dereference in tracing_err_log_open()

Severity: medium (CVSS 5.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2025-09-15 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-476

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tracing: Fix null pointer dereference in tracing_err_log_open() Fix an issue in function 'tracing_err_log_open'. The function doesn't call 'seq_open' if the file is opened only with write permissions, which results in 'file->private_data' being left as null. If we then use 'lseek' on that opened file, 'seq_lseek' dereferences 'file->private_data' in 'mutex_lock(&m->lock)', resulting in a kernel panic. Writing to this node requires root privileges, therefore this bug has very little security impact. Tracefs node: /sys/kernel/tracing/error_log Example Kernel panic: Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000038 Call trace: mutex_lock+0x30/0x110 seq_lseek+0x34/0xb8 __arm64_sys_lseek+0x6c/0xb8 invoke_syscall+0x58/0x13c el0_svc_common+0xc4/0x10c do_el0_svc+0x24/0x98 el0_svc+0x24/0x88 el0t_64_sync_handler+0x84/0xe4 el0t_64_sync+0x1b4/0x1b8 Code: d503201f aa0803e0 aa1f03e1 aa0103e9 (c8e97d02) ---[ end trace 561d1b49c12cf8a5 ]--- Kernel panic - not syncing: Oops: Fatal exception

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 5.2 before 5.4.251; from 5.5 before 5.10.188; from 5.11 before 5.15.121; from 5.16 before 6.1.40; from 6.2 before 6.4.5 — fixed in 5.10.188, 5.15.121, 5.4.251, 6.1.40, 6.4.5

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 5.10.188, 5.15.121, 5.4.251, 6.1.40. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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