CVE-2023-53478 - CVE House
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Status published Unknown CVE-2023-53478

tracing/synthetic: Fix races on freeing last_cmd

Vulnerability Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tracing/synthetic: Fix races on freeing last_cmd Currently, the "last_cmd" variable can be accessed by multiple processes asynchronously when multiple users manipulate synthetic_events node at the same time, it could lead to use-after-free or double-free. This patch add "lastcmd_mutex" to prevent "last_cmd" from being accessed asynchronously. ================================================================ It's easy to reproduce in the KASAN environment by running the two scripts below in different shells. script 1: while : do echo -n -e '\x88' > /sys/kernel/tracing/synthetic_events done script 2: while : do echo -n -e '\xb0' > /sys/kernel/tracing/synthetic_events done ================================================================ double-free scenario: process A process B ------------------- --------------- 1.kstrdup last_cmd 2.free last_cmd 3.free last_cmd(double-free) ================================================================ use-after-free scenario: process A process B ------------------- --------------- 1.kstrdup last_cmd 2.free last_cmd 3.tracing_log_err(use-after-free) ================================================================ Appendix 1. KASAN report double-free: BUG: KASAN: double-free in kfree+0xdc/0x1d4 Free of addr ***** by task sh/4879 Call trace: ... kfree+0xdc/0x1d4 create_or_delete_synth_event+0x60/0x1e8 trace_parse_run_command+0x2bc/0x4b8 synth_events_write+0x20/0x30 vfs_write+0x200/0x830 ... Allocated by task 4879: ... kstrdup+0x5c/0x98 create_or_delete_synth_event+0x6c/0x1e8 trace_parse_run_command+0x2bc/0x4b8 synth_events_write+0x20/0x30 vfs_write+0x200/0x830 ... Freed by task 5464: ... kfree+0xdc/0x1d4 create_or_delete_synth_event+0x60/0x1e8 trace_parse_run_command+0x2bc/0x4b8 synth_events_write+0x20/0x30 vfs_write+0x200/0x830 ... ================================================================ Appendix 2. KASAN report use-after-free: BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in strlen+0x5c/0x7c Read of size 1 at addr ***** by task sh/5483 sh: CPU: 7 PID: 5483 Comm: sh ... __asan_report_load1_noabort+0x34/0x44 strlen+0x5c/0x7c tracing_log_err+0x60/0x444 create_or_delete_synth_event+0xc4/0x204 trace_parse_run_command+0x2bc/0x4b8 synth_events_write+0x20/0x30 vfs_write+0x200/0x830 ... Allocated by task 5483: ... kstrdup+0x5c/0x98 create_or_delete_synth_event+0x80/0x204 trace_parse_run_command+0x2bc/0x4b8 synth_events_write+0x20/0x30 vfs_write+0x200/0x830 ... Freed by task 5480: ... kfree+0xdc/0x1d4 create_or_delete_synth_event+0x74/0x204 trace_parse_run_command+0x2bc/0x4b8 synth_events_write+0x20/0x30 vfs_write+0x200/0x830 ...

Impact Analysis

Refer to official advisory for detailed impact metrics.

Remediation

Ensure systems are updated to the latest vendor-supplied patch levels.

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Credits & Attribution

No credits recorded in the NVD database.

Affected Vendor

Affected Software

Linux
Vulnerable Versions:
27c888da9867725784bad3d6455d6e53b425fa2b, 5.18, 0, 6.1.24, 6.2.11, 6.3

Timeline

Official Publish: October 1st, 2025
Last Modified: May 11th, 2026
Added to House: July 22nd, 2026

CVSS Vectors

No vector data available

Weaknesses (CWE)

No CWE data available

MITRE ATT&CK TTPs

No associated TTPs found for this vulnerability.