CVE-2023-53093: tracing: Do not let histogram values have some modifiers

Published May 2, 2025
·
Updated

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

tracing: Do not let histogram values have some modifiers

Histogram values can not be strings, stacktraces, graphs, symbols, syscalls, or grouped in buckets or log. Give an error if a value is set to do so.

Note, the histogram code was not prepared to handle these modifiers for histograms and caused a bug.

Mark Rutland reported:

# echo 'p:copytouser archcopytouser n=$arg2' >> /sys/kernel/tracing/kprobeevents # echo 'hist:keys=n:vals=hitcount.buckets=8:sort=hitcount' > /sys/kernel/tracing/events/kprobes/copytouser/trigger # cat /sys/kernel/tracing/events/kprobes/copytouser/hist [ 143.694628] Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000000 [ 143.695190] Mem abort info: [ 143.695362] ESR = 0x0000000096000004 [ 143.695604] EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits [ 143.695889] SET = 0, FnV = 0 [ 143.696077] EA = 0, S1PTW = 0 [ 143.696302] FSC = 0x04: level 0 translation fault [ 143.702381] Data abort info: [ 143.702614] ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000004 [ 143.702832] CM = 0, WnR = 0 [ 143.703087] user pgtable: 4k pages, 48-bit VAs, pgdp=00000000448f9000 [ 143.703407] [0000000000000000] pgd=0000000000000000, p4d=0000000000000000 [ 143.704137] Internal error: Oops: 0000000096000004 [#1] PREEMPT SMP [ 143.704714] Modules linked in: [ 143.705273] CPU: 0 PID: 133 Comm: cat Not tainted 6.2.0-00003-g6fc512c10a7c #3 [ 143.706138] Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT) [ 143.706723] pstate: 80000005 (Nzcv daif -PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) [ 143.707120] pc : histfieldname.part.0+0x14/0x140 [ 143.707504] lr : histfieldname.part.0+0x104/0x140 [ 143.707774] sp : ffff800008333a30 [ 143.707952] x29: ffff800008333a30 x28: 0000000000000001 x27: 0000000000400cc0 [ 143.708429] x26: ffffd7a653b20260 x25: 0000000000000000 x24: ffff10d303ee5800 [ 143.708776] x23: ffffd7a6539b27b0 x22: ffff10d303fb8c00 x21: 0000000000000001 [ 143.709127] x20: ffff10d303ec2000 x19: 0000000000000000 x18: 0000000000000000 [ 143.709478] x17: 0000000000000000 x16: 0000000000000000 x15: 0000000000000000 [ 143.709824] x14: 0000000000000000 x13: 203a6f666e692072 x12: 6567676972742023 [ 143.710179] x11: 0a230a6d6172676f x10: 000000000000002c x9 : ffffd7a6521e018c [ 143.710584] x8 : 000000000000002c x7 : 7f7f7f7f7f7f7f7f x6 : 000000000000002c [ 143.710915] x5 : ffff10d303b0103e x4 : ffffd7a653b20261 x3 : 000000000000003d [ 143.711239] x2 : 0000000000020001 x1 : 0000000000000001 x0 : 0000000000000000 [ 143.711746] Call trace: [ 143.712115] histfieldname.part.0+0x14/0x140 [ 143.712642] histfieldname.part.0+0x104/0x140 [ 143.712925] histfieldprint+0x28/0x140 [ 143.713125] eventhisttriggerprint+0x174/0x4d0 [ 143.713348] histshow+0xf8/0x980 [ 143.713521] seqreaditer+0x1bc/0x4b0 [ 143.713711] seqread+0x8c/0xc4 [ 143.713876] vfsread+0xc8/0x2a4 [ 143.714043] ksysread+0x70/0xfc [ 143.714218] arm64sysread+0x24/0x30 [ 143.714400] invokesyscall+0x50/0x120 [ 143.714587] el0svccommon.constprop.0+0x4c/0x100 [ 143.714807] doel0svc+0x44/0xd0 [ 143.714970] el0svc+0x2c/0x84 [ 143.715134] el0t64synchandler+0xbc/0x140 [ 143.715334] el0t64sync+0x190/0x194 [ 143.715742] Code: a9bd7bfd 910003fd a90153f3 aa0003f3 (f9400000) [ 143.716510] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- Segmentation fault

Affected Software

176 affected componentsFixes available
Linux Foundation Linux Kernel
Microsoft cbl2 kernel 5.15.186.1-1
Linux Linux kernel>=4.7<6.1.23
Linux Linux kernel>=6.2<6.2.8
Linux Linux kernel=6.3-rc1
Linux Linux kernel=6.3-rc2
debian/linux<6.1.25-1
6.1.25-1
debian/linux<6.1.25-1
6.1.25-1
debian/linux<6.1.25-1
6.1.25-1
ubuntu/linux-azure*
ubuntu/linux-aws-hwe*
ubuntu/linux-azure*
ubuntu/linux-gcp*
ubuntu/linux-hwe*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge*
ubuntu/linux-oracle*
ubuntu/linux*
ubuntu/linux-aws*
ubuntu/linux-aws-5.0*
ubuntu/linux-aws-5.3*
ubuntu/linux-aws-5.4*
ubuntu/linux-azure*
ubuntu/linux-azure-4.15*
ubuntu/linux-azure-5.3*
ubuntu/linux-azure-5.4*
ubuntu/linux-azure-edge*
ubuntu/linux-gcp*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-4.15*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.3*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.4*
ubuntu/linux-gke-4.15*
ubuntu/linux-gke-5.4*
ubuntu/linux-gkeop-5.4*
ubuntu/linux-hwe*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.4*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge*
ubuntu/linux-ibm-5.4*
ubuntu/linux-kvm*
ubuntu/linux-oem*
ubuntu/linux-oracle*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.0*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.3*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.4*
ubuntu/linux-raspi-5.4*
ubuntu/linux-aws-fips*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fips*
ubuntu/linux-fips*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips*
ubuntu/linux-aws-fips*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fips*
ubuntu/linux-fips*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips*
ubuntu/linux*
ubuntu/linux-aws*
ubuntu/linux-aws-5.11*
ubuntu/linux-aws-5.13*
ubuntu/linux-aws-5.15*
ubuntu/linux-aws-5.8*
ubuntu/linux-azure*
ubuntu/linux-azure-5.11*
ubuntu/linux-azure-5.13*
ubuntu/linux-azure-5.15*
ubuntu/linux-azure-5.8*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-5.15*
ubuntu/linux-bluefield*
ubuntu/linux-gcp*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.11*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.13*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.15*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.8*
ubuntu/linux-gke*
ubuntu/linux-gke-5.15*
ubuntu/linux-gkeop*
ubuntu/linux-gkeop-5.15*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.11*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.13*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.15*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.8*
ubuntu/linux-ibm*
ubuntu/linux-ibm-5.15*
ubuntu/linux-intel-5.13*
ubuntu/linux-intel-iotg-5.15*
ubuntu/linux-iot*
ubuntu/linux-kvm*
ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15*
ubuntu/linux-oem-5.10*
ubuntu/linux-oem-5.13*
ubuntu/linux-oem-5.6*
ubuntu/linux-oracle*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.11*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.13*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.15*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.8*
ubuntu/linux-raspi*
ubuntu/linux-raspi2*
ubuntu/linux-riscv*
ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.11*
ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.15*
ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.8*
ubuntu/linux-xilinx-zynqmp*
ubuntu/linux-aws-fips*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fips*
ubuntu/linux-fips*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips*
ubuntu/linux-aws-fips*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fips*
ubuntu/linux-fips*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips*
ubuntu/linux*
ubuntu/linux-allwinner-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-aws*
ubuntu/linux-aws-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-aws-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-aws-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-azure*
ubuntu/linux-azure-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-azure-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-azure-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-gcp*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-gke*
ubuntu/linux-gkeop*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-ibm*
ubuntu/linux-intel-iot-realtime*
ubuntu/linux-intel-iotg*
ubuntu/linux-kvm*
ubuntu/linux-lowlatency*
ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra-igx*
ubuntu/linux-oem-5.17*
ubuntu/linux-oem-6.0*
ubuntu/linux-oem-6.1*
ubuntu/linux-oem-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-oracle*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-raspi*
ubuntu/linux-realtime*
ubuntu/linux-riscv*
ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-starfive-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-starfive-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-starfive-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-xilinx-zynqmp*
ubuntu/linux-bluefield*
ubuntu/linux-intel-iot-realtime*
ubuntu/linux-realtime*
ubuntu/linux-aws-fips*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fips*
ubuntu/linux-fips*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips*
ubuntu/linux-aws-fips*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fips*
ubuntu/linux-fips*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips*
ubuntu/linux-raspi-realtime*
ubuntu/linux-realtime*
linux/kernel>=4.7.0<6.1.23
6.1.23
linux/kernel>=6.2.0<6.2.8
6.2.8
debian/linux
6.1.176-16.1.190-16.12.107-16.12.115-27.2.15-1

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

  1. Upgrade

    Upgrade debian/linux to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.1.25-1
  2. Upgrade

    Upgrade linux/Kernel to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.1.23
  3. Upgrade

    Upgrade linux/Kernel to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.2.8
  4. Upgrade

    Upgrade debian/linux to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.1.176-1Fixed in 6.1.190-1Fixed in 6.12.107-1Fixed in 6.12.115-2Fixed in 7.2.15-1
  5. Configuration

    Do not configure histogram values with string, stacktrace, graph, symbol, syscall, bucket, or log modifiers; reject such values with an error.

    Linux kernel tracing histograms histogram value modifiers = disallow strings, stacktraces, graphs, symbols, syscalls, and grouping in buckets or log

Event History

May 2, 2025
CVE Published
via MITRE·03:55 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·03:55 PM
Description
Data Sourced
via OSV·03:55 PM
DescriptionAffected Software
Data Sourced
via OSV·04:15 PM
Severity
Data Sourced
via NVD·04:15 PM
RemedyDescriptionSeverityWeaknessAffected Software
Nov 14, 2025
Data Sourced
via Microsoft·01:03 AM
DescriptionSeverityWeaknessAffected Software

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of CVE-2023-53093?

CVE-2023-53093 is classified as a low-severity vulnerability in the Linux kernel.

2

How do I fix CVE-2023-53093?

To resolve CVE-2023-53093, ensure that your Linux kernel is updated to the latest patched version.

3

What does CVE-2023-53093 affect?

CVE-2023-53093 affects the Linux kernel, specifically the tracing functionality related to histogram values.

4

What are the potential risks of CVE-2023-53093?

The potential risks of CVE-2023-53093 include improper handling of histogram values, which could lead to unexpected behavior or output.

5

Is CVE-2023-53093 being actively exploited?

As of now, there are no specific reports indicating that CVE-2023-53093 is being actively exploited in the wild.

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