tracing: Fix race issue between cpu buffer write and swap
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- High
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 3 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tracing: Fix race issue between cpu buffer write and swap Warning happened in rb_end_commit() at code: if (RB_WARN_ON(cpu_buffer, !local_read(&cpu_buffer->committing))) WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 139 at kernel/trace/ring_buffer.c:3142 rb_commit+0x402/0x4a0 Call Trace: ring_buffer_unlock_commit+0x42/0x250 trace_buffer_unlock_commit_regs+0x3b/0x250 trace_event_buffer_commit+0xe5/0x440 trace_event_buffer_reserve+0x11c/0x150 trace_event_raw_event_sched_switch+0x23c/0x2c0 __traceiter_sched_switch+0x59/0x80 __schedule+0x72b/0x1580 schedule+0x92/0x120 worker_thread+0xa0/0x6f0 It is because the race between writing event into cpu buffer and swapping cpu buffer through file per_cpu/cpu0/snapshot: Write on CPU 0 Swap buffer by per_cpu/cpu0/snapshot on CPU 1 -------- -------- tracing_snapshot_write() [...] ring_buffer_lock_reserve() cpu_buffer = buffer->buffers[cpu]; // 1. Suppose find 'cpu_buffer_a'; [...] rb_reserve_next_event() [...] ring_buffer_swap_cpu() if (local_read(&cpu_buffer_a->committing)) goto out_dec; if (local_read(&cpu_buffer_b->committing)) goto out_dec; buffer_a->buffers[cpu] = cpu_buffer_b; buffer_b->buffers[cpu] = cpu_buffer_a; // 2. cpu_buffer has swapped here. rb_start_commit(cpu_buffer); if (unlikely(READ_ONCE(cpu_buffer->buffer) != buffer)) { // 3. This check passed due to 'cpu_buffer->buffer' [...] // has not changed here. return NULL; } cpu_buffer_b->buffer = buffer_a; cpu_buffer_a->buffer = buffer_b; [...] // 4. Reserve event from 'cpu_buffer_a'. ring_buffer_unlock_commit() [...] cpu_buffer = buffer->buffers[cpu]; // 5. Now find 'cpu_buffer_b' !!! rb_commit(cpu_buffer) rb_end_commit() // 6. WARN for the wrong 'committing' state !!! Based on above analysis, we can easily reproduce by following testcase: ``` bash #!/bin/bash dmesg -n 7 sysctl -w kernel.panic_on_warn=1 TR=/sys/kernel/tracing echo 7 > ${TR}/buffer_size_kb echo "sched:sched_switch" > ${TR}/set_event while [ true ]; do echo 1 > ${TR}/per_cpu/cpu0/snapshot done & while [ true ]; do echo 1 > ${TR}/per_cpu/cpu0/snapshot done & while [ true ]; do echo 1 > ${TR}/per_cpu/cpu0/snapshot done & ``` To fix it, IIUC, we can use smp_call_function_single() to do the swap on the target cpu where the buffer is located, so that above race would be avoided.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 3.10 and later | 5.4.257, 5.10.195, 5.15.132, 6.1.53, 6.4.16, 6.5.3, 6.6 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 3.10 and later Fixed in 5.4.257, 5.10.195, 5.15.132, 6.1.53, 6.4.16, 6.5.3, 6.6 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 3.10 to before 5.4.257; 5.5 to before 5.10.195; 5.11 to before 5.15.132; 5.16 to before 6.1.53; 6.2 to before 6.4.16; 6.5 to before 6.5.3 | Vulnerable | Linux |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 3.10 to before 5.4.257; 5.5 to before 5.10.195; 5.11 to before 5.15.132; 5.16 to before 6.1.53; 6.2 to before 6.4.16; 6.5 to before 6.5.3 Vulnerable ·Linux
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.4.257, 5.10.195, 5.15.132, 6.1.53, 6.4.16, 6.5.3, 6.6
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 2 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2023-53368
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-mrjw-9wmf-9mph
References
Patch 7
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/90e037cabc2c2dfc39b3dd9c5b22ea91f995539a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c5d30d6aa83d99fba8dfdd9cf6c4e4e7a63244db
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6182318ac04648b46db9d441fd7d696337fcdd0b
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/74c85396bd73eca80b96510b4edf93b9a3aff75f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/89c89da92a60028013f9539be0dcce7e44405a43
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/37ca1b686078b00cc4ffa008e2190615f7709b5d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3163f635b20e9e1fb4659e74f47918c9dddfe64e
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- TI-2021-05514 Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.3
Sources
- CVE-2023-53368 · CVE Program
- CVE-2023-53368 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-mrjw-9wmf-9mph · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2023-53368 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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