Vulnerability · Published Oct 1, 2025 · Assigned by Linux
CVE-2023-53522cgroup,freezer: hold cpu_hotplug_lock before freezer_mutex
High 7.8
In plain English
A high-severity security flaw 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.
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: cgroup,freezer: hold cpu_hotplug_lock before freezer_mutex syzbot is reporting circular locking dependency between cpu_hotplug_lock and freezer_mutex, for commit f5d39b020809 ("freezer,sched: Rewrite core freezer logic") replaced atomic_inc() in freezer_apply_state() with static_branch_inc() which holds cpu_hotplug_lock. cpu_hotplug_lock => cgroup_threadgroup_rwsem => freezer_mutex cgroup_file_write() { cgroup_procs_write() { __cgroup_procs_write() { cgroup_procs_write_start() { cgroup_attach_lock() { cpus_read_lock() { percpu_down_read(&cpu_hotplug_lock); } percpu_down_write(&cgroup_threadgroup_rwsem); } } cgroup_attach_task() { cgroup_migrate() { cgroup_migrate_execute() { freezer_attach() { mutex_lock(&freezer_mutex); (...snipped...) } } } } (...snipped...) } } } freezer_mutex => cpu_hotplug_lock cgroup_file_write() { freezer_write() { freezer_change_state() { mutex_lock(&freezer_mutex); freezer_apply_state() { static_branch_inc(&freezer_active) { static_key_slow_inc() { cpus_read_lock(); static_key_slow_inc_cpuslocked(); cpus_read_unlock(); } } } mutex_unlock(&freezer_mutex); } } } Swap locking order by moving cpus_read_lock() in freezer_apply_state() to before mutex_lock(&freezer_mutex) in freezer_change_state().
Affected packages & fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian:12 | linux | 6.1.25-1 | DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Debian:13 | linux | 6.1.25-1 | DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Debian:14 | linux | 6.1.25-1 | DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-allwinner-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-aws-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-aws-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-aws-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-azure-6.11 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-fde-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-fde-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gcp-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-gcp-6.11 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gcp-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gcp-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-hwe-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-hwe-6.11 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-hwe-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-hwe-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-intel | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-intel-iot-realtime | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-nvidia-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-nvidia-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oem-5.17 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.0 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.1 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.11 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.8 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oracle-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-raspi-realtime | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-realtime | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-realtime | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-riscv | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-riscv | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-riscv-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-riscv-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-starfive-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-starfive-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-starfive-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53522 |
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | f5d39b020809146cc28e6e73369bf8065e0310aa – before 3756171b97c307d9df8b8ded1d883eec30172085f5d39b020809146cc28e6e73369bf8065e0310aa – before 34fbb7b45bae20b551dda24337c7761ca13ce69df5d39b020809146cc28e6e73369bf8065e0310aa – before 57dcd64c7e036299ef526b400a8d12b8a2352f26 |
| Linux | Linux | 6.1 |