Vulnerability · Published Sep 15, 2025 · Assigned by Linux

CVE-2023-53221bpf: Fix memleak due to fentry attach failure

Medium 5.5

In plain English

A medium-severity memory leak in Linux from Linux. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.2% (higher than 5% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS 3.1)5.5Medium
Exploit odds (30 days)0.2%top 94.9% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: none
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Fix memleak due to fentry attach failure If it fails to attach fentry, the allocated bpf trampoline image will be left in the system. That can be verified by checking /proc/kallsyms. This meamleak can be verified by a simple bpf program as follows: SEC("fentry/trap_init") int fentry_run() { return 0; } It will fail to attach trap_init because this function is freed after kernel init, and then we can find the trampoline image is left in the system by checking /proc/kallsyms. $ tail /proc/kallsyms ffffffffc0613000 t bpf_trampoline_6442453466_1 [bpf] ffffffffc06c3000 t bpf_trampoline_6442453466_1 [bpf] $ bpftool btf dump file /sys/kernel/btf/vmlinux | grep "FUNC 'trap_init'" [2522] FUNC 'trap_init' type_id=119 linkage=static $ echo $((6442453466 & 0x7fffffff)) 2522 Note that there are two left bpf trampoline images, that is because the libbpf will fallback to raw tracepoint if -EINVAL is returned.

Affected packages & fixed versions

EcosystemPackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian:12linux6.1.52-1DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53221
Debian:13linux6.4.4-1DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53221
Debian:14linux6.4.4-1DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinuxno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-allwinner-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-awsno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azureno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fdeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcpno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gkeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gkeopno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-ibmno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-intelno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-intel-iot-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-intel-iotgno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-kvmno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatencyno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidiano fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-tegrano fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-tegra-igxno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-5.17no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.0no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.1no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.8no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oracleno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oracle-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-raspino fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-raspi-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscvno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-riscvno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscv-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscv-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-xilinx-zynqmpno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53221

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
Linux Linux e21aa341785c679dd409c8cb71f864c00fe6c463 – before 20109ddd5bea2c24d790debf5d02584ef24c3f5ee21aa341785c679dd409c8cb71f864c00fe6c463 – before f72c67d1a82dada7d6d504c806e111e913721a30e21aa341785c679dd409c8cb71f864c00fe6c463 – before 6aa27775db63ba8c7c73891c7dfb71ddc230c48de21aa341785c679dd409c8cb71f864c00fe6c463 – before 108598c39eefbedc9882273ac0df96127a629220e21d2b92354b3cd25dd774ebb0f0e52ff04a786185d177f56e5256e14b74a65940f981f6e3e8bb325.10.28 – before 5.115.11.11 – before 5.12
Linux Linux 5.12

Weakness: CWE-401 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

References