CVE-2023-53634 | bpf, arm64: Fixed a BTI error on returning to patched function

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf, arm64: Fixed a BTI error on returning to patched function When BPF_TRAMP_F_CALL_ORIG is set, BPF trampoline uses BLR to jump back to the instruction next to call site to call the patched function. For BTI-enabled kernel, the instruction next to call site is usually PACIASP, in this case, it's safe to jump back with BLR. But when the call site is not followed by a PACIASP or bti, a BTI exception is triggered. Here is a fault log: Unhandled 64-bit el1h sync exception on CPU0, ESR 0x0000000034000002 -- BTI CPU: 0 PID: 263 Comm: test_progs Tainted: GF Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT) pstate: 40400805 (nZcv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=-c) pc : bpf_fentry_test1+0xc/0x30 lr : bpf_trampoline_6442573892_0+0x48/0x1000 sp : ffff80000c0c3a50 x29: ffff80000c0c3a90 x28: ffff0000c2e6c080 x27: 0000000000000000 x26: 0000000000000000 x25: 0000000000000000 x24: 0000000000000050 x23: 0000000000000000 x22: 0000ffffcfd2a7f0 x21: 000000000000000a x20: 0000ffffcfd2a7f0 x19: 0000000000000000 x18: 0000000000000000 x17: 0000000000000000 x16: 0000000000000000 x15: 0000ffffcfd2a7f0 x14: 0000000000000000 x13: 0000000000000000 x12: 0000000000000000 x11: 0000000000000000 x10: ffff80000914f5e4 x9 : ffff8000082a1528 x8 : 0000000000000000 x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 : 0101010101010101 x5 : 0000000000000000 x4 : 00000000fffffff2 x3 : 0000000000000001 x2 : ffff8001f4b82000 x1 : 0000000000000000 x0 : 0000000000000001 Kernel panic - not syncing: Unhandled exception CPU: 0 PID: 263 Comm: test_progs Tainted: GF Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT) Call trace: dump_backtrace+0xec/0x144 show_stack+0x24/0x7c dump_stack_lvl+0x8c/0xb8 dump_stack+0x18/0x34 panic+0x1cc/0x3ec __el0_error_handler_common+0x0/0x130 el1h_64_sync_handler+0x60/0xd0 el1h_64_sync+0x78/0x7c bpf_fentry_test1+0xc/0x30 bpf_fentry_test1+0xc/0x30 bpf_prog_test_run_tracing+0xdc/0x2a0 __sys_bpf+0x438/0x22a0 __arm64_sys_bpf+0x30/0x54 invoke_syscall+0x78/0x110 el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0x6c/0x1d0 do_el0_svc+0x38/0xe0 el0_svc+0x30/0xd0 el0t_64_sync_handler+0x1ac/0x1b0 el0t_64_sync+0x1a0/0x1a4 Kernel Offset: disabled CPU features: 0x0000,00034c24,f994fdab Memory Limit: none And the instruction next to call site of bpf_fentry_test1 is ADD, not PACIASP: <bpf_fentry_test1>: bti c nop nop add w0, w0, #0x1 paciasp For BPF prog, JIT always puts a PACIASP after call site for BTI-enabled kernel, so there is no problem. To fix it, replace BLR with RET to bypass the branch target check.

Published: 2025-10-07 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2023-53634 is rated Low Risk (25.3/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.19%). 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-2023-53634

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% 0.19% +0.18%
2 2025-10-08 0.02%

Full EPSS history (2 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-53634

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-2023-53634

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-53634

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2023-53634 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-2023-53634
redhat low https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53634
suse medium CVE-2023-53634 severity moderate: SUSE including 55 source package names (bpftool-7.2.0-362.8.1.el9_3, cluster-md-kmp-default, …), 305 product×package rows across 55 product lines (SLES-LTSS-TERADATA 15 SP2, SUSE Liberty Linux 9, … (55 product lines)): Known Not Affected 276, Fixed 29. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53634/
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-53634 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-2023-53634

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-53634

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 6.0, < 6.1.25 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.2.12 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.3 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.3:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.3 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.3:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.3 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.3:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.3 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.3:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.3 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.3:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.3 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.3:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-53634

cvelogic Threat Intelligence