CVE-2023-54033
Memory Leak in Linux Kernel BPF LRU Hash Maps
Publication date: 2025-12-24
Last updated on: 2025-12-24
Assigner: kernel.org
Description
Description
CVSS Scores
EPSS Scores
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Meta Information
Affected Vendors & Products
| Vendor | Product | Version / Range |
|---|---|---|
| linux | linux_kernel | * |
| linux | kernel | * |
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
| CWE ID | Description |
|---|---|
| CWE-UNKNOWN |
Attack-Flow Graph
AI Powered Q&A
Can you explain this vulnerability to me?
This vulnerability is a memory leak in the Linux kernel's BPF subsystem, specifically in the LRU and LRU_PERCPU hash maps. When these maps update, they allocate a new element before locking the target hash table bucket. If locking the bucket fails, the allocated element is not released and becomes untracked, meaning it is not part of any free list or the hash table. This causes the element to be unusable and eventually leads to permanent memory exhaustion (-ENOMEM) on LRU map updates.
How can this vulnerability impact me? :
The impact of this vulnerability is that it can cause a permanent memory leak in the Linux kernel's LRU map updates. This memory leak can lead to the system running out of memory (-ENOMEM errors), which may cause failures in applications or services relying on these maps, potentially leading to system instability or degraded performance.
What immediate steps should I take to mitigate this vulnerability?
To mitigate this vulnerability, update your Linux kernel to a version that includes the fix for the memory leak in the LRU and LRU_PERCPU hash maps. This fix ensures that allocated elements are properly released if bucket locking fails, preventing permanent -ENOMEM errors on LRU map updates.