CVE-2023-53557 | fprobe: Release rethook after the ftrace_ops is unregistered

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fprobe: Release rethook after the ftrace_ops is unregistered While running bpf selftests it's possible to get following fault: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address \ 0x6b6b6b6b6b6b6b6b: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP DEBUG_PAGEALLOC NOPTI ... Call Trace: <TASK> fprobe_handler+0xc1/0x270 ? __pfx_bpf_testmod_init+0x10/0x10 ? __pfx_bpf_testmod_init+0x10/0x10 ? bpf_fentry_test1+0x5/0x10 ? bpf_fentry_test1+0x5/0x10 ? bpf_testmod_init+0x22/0x80 ? do_one_initcall+0x63/0x2e0 ? rcu_is_watching+0xd/0x40 ? kmalloc_trace+0xaf/0xc0 ? do_init_module+0x60/0x250 ? __do_sys_finit_module+0xac/0x120 ? do_syscall_64+0x37/0x90 ? entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x72/0xdc </TASK> In unregister_fprobe function we can't release fp->rethook while it's possible there are some of its users still running on another cpu. Moving rethook_free call after fp->ops is unregistered with unregister_ftrace_function call.

Published: 2025-10-04 Last update: 2026-03-21 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2023-53557 is rated Low Risk (23.1/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.13%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-53557

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.02% 0.13% +0.11%
2 2025-10-05 0.02%

Full EPSS history (2 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-53557

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

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]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-53557

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-53557

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2023-53557 unimportant 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-2023-53557
redhat low https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53557
suse medium https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53557/
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-53557 medium priority: Ubuntu including 150 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1350 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 969, ignored 159, not-affected 142, released 80. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-53557

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-53557

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 5.18, < 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:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-53557

cvelogic Threat Intelligence