CVE-2023-53167

low-risk
Published 2025-09-15

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

Do I need to act?

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0.02% chance of exploitation
EPSS score — low exploit probability
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Not on CISA KEV list
No confirmed active exploitation reported to CISA
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Patch status unknown
Check vendor advisories for fix availability and mitigation guidance
5
CVSS 5.5/10 Medium
LOCAL / LOW complexity

Affected Products (1)

Affected Vendors

23
/ 100
low-risk
Severity 18/34 · Moderate
Exploitability 0/34 · Minimal
Exposure 5/34 · Minimal