CVE-2023-53167 [Medium] | Security Vulnerability in Linux Kernel

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

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2025-09-16	—	0.02%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2025-09-16

—

0.02%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
5.5	3.1	MEDIUM	`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:L) They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by. Attack complexity (AC:L) Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup. Privileges required (PR:L) A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin. User interaction (UI:N) Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping. Scope (S:U) Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems. Confidentiality (C:N) Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way. Integrity (I:N) Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.	1.8	3.6	[email protected]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

5.5

3.1

MEDIUM

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand

Attack vector (AV:L): They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L): Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L): A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N): Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U): Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N): Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N): Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H): Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

1.8

3.6

[email protected]

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-53167

vendor	priority	summary	link
`debian`	not yet assigned	CVE-2023-53167 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5.	https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-53167
`redhat`	low	—	https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53167
`suse`	medium	—	https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53167/
`ubuntu`	medium	CVE-2023-53167 medium priority: Ubuntu including 158 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1414 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1017, ignored 162, released 138, not-affected 76, needed 20, needs-triage 1.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-53167

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-53167

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
linux	linux_kernel	>= 5.2, < 5.4.251	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 5.5, < 5.10.188	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 5.11, < 5.15.121	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 5.16, < 6.1.40	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 6.2, < 6.4.5	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::

References for CVE-2023-53167

URL	Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/02b0095e2fbbc060560c1065f86a211d91e27b26	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1e1c9aa9288a46c342f0f2c5c0b1c0876b9b0276	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3b5d9b7b875968a8a8c99dac45cb85b705c44802	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7060e5aac6dc195124c106f49106d653a416323a	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/93114cbc7cb169f6f26eeaed5286b91bb86b463b	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/938d5b7a75e18264887387ddf9169db6d8aeef98	Patch

URL

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

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-53167

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-53167

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-53167

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-53167

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-53167

References for CVE-2023-53167