{"id":"CVE-2023-53167","state":"PUBLISHED","title":"tracing: Fix null pointer dereference in tracing_err_log_open()","description":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\ntracing: Fix null pointer dereference in tracing_err_log_open()\n\nFix an issue in function 'tracing_err_log_open'.\nThe function doesn't call 'seq_open' if the file is opened only with\nwrite permissions, which results in 'file->private_data' being left as null.\nIf we then use 'lseek' on that opened file, 'seq_lseek' dereferences\n'file->private_data' in 'mutex_lock(&m->lock)', resulting in a kernel panic.\nWriting to this node requires root privileges, therefore this bug\nhas very little security impact.\n\nTracefs node: /sys/kernel/tracing/error_log\n\nExample Kernel panic:\n\nUnable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000038\nCall trace:\n mutex_lock+0x30/0x110\n seq_lseek+0x34/0xb8\n __arm64_sys_lseek+0x6c/0xb8\n invoke_syscall+0x58/0x13c\n el0_svc_common+0xc4/0x10c\n do_el0_svc+0x24/0x98\n el0_svc+0x24/0x88\n el0t_64_sync_handler+0x84/0xe4\n el0t_64_sync+0x1b4/0x1b8\nCode: d503201f aa0803e0 aa1f03e1 aa0103e9 (c8e97d02)\n---[ end trace 561d1b49c12cf8a5 ]---\nKernel panic - not syncing: Oops: Fatal exception","publishedAt":"2025-09-15T14:03:56.025Z","updatedAt":"2026-05-11T19:39:34.087Z","severity":null,"assigner":"Linux","products":["Linux Linux"],"affected":[{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"unaffected","versions":[{"version":"8a062902be725f647dc8da532b04d836546a369a","status":"affected","lessThan":"93114cbc7cb169f6f26eeaed5286b91bb86b463b","versionType":"git"},{"version":"8a062902be725f647dc8da532b04d836546a369a","status":"affected","lessThan":"7060e5aac6dc195124c106f49106d653a416323a","versionType":"git"},{"version":"8a062902be725f647dc8da532b04d836546a369a","status":"affected","lessThan":"3b5d9b7b875968a8a8c99dac45cb85b705c44802","versionType":"git"},{"version":"8a062902be725f647dc8da532b04d836546a369a","status":"affected","lessThan":"938d5b7a75e18264887387ddf9169db6d8aeef98","versionType":"git"},{"version":"8a062902be725f647dc8da532b04d836546a369a","status":"affected","lessThan":"1e1c9aa9288a46c342f0f2c5c0b1c0876b9b0276","versionType":"git"},{"version":"8a062902be725f647dc8da532b04d836546a369a","status":"affected","lessThan":"02b0095e2fbbc060560c1065f86a211d91e27b26","versionType":"git"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["kernel/trace/trace.c"]},{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"affected","versions":[{"version":"5.2","status":"affected"},{"version":"0","status":"unaffected","lessThan":"5.2","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"5.4.251","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"5.4.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"5.10.188","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"5.10.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"5.15.121","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"5.15.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.1.40","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.1.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.4.5","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.4.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.5","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"*","versionType":"original_commit_for_fix"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["kernel/trace/trace.c"]}],"references":["https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/93114cbc7cb169f6f26eeaed5286b91bb86b463b","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7060e5aac6dc195124c106f49106d653a416323a","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3b5d9b7b875968a8a8c99dac45cb85b705c44802","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/938d5b7a75e18264887387ddf9169db6d8aeef98","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1e1c9aa9288a46c342f0f2c5c0b1c0876b9b0276","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/02b0095e2fbbc060560c1065f86a211d91e27b26"],"weaknesses":[],"ingestedAt":"2026-10-29T20:06:33.064Z","source":{"repository":"CVEProject/cvelistV5","path":"cves/2023/53xxx/CVE-2023-53167.json","commit":"556c9d3a8cd17e218bb8e452ba7cd619a384ff47"},"raw":{"dataType":"CVE_RECORD","dataVersion":"5.2","cveMetadata":{"cveId":"CVE-2023-53167","state":"PUBLISHED","datePublished":"2025-09-15T14:03:56.025Z","dateUpdated":"2026-05-11T19:39:34.087Z","assignerShortName":"Linux","assignerOrgId":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67","dateReserved":"2025-09-15T13:59:19.063Z"},"containers":{"cna":{"title":"tracing: Fix null pointer dereference in tracing_err_log_open()","descriptions":[{"lang":"en","value":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\ntracing: Fix null pointer dereference in tracing_err_log_open()\n\nFix an issue in function 'tracing_err_log_open'.\nThe function doesn't call 'seq_open' if the file is opened only with\nwrite permissions, which results in 'file->private_data' being left as null.\nIf we then use 'lseek' on that opened file, 'seq_lseek' dereferences\n'file->private_data' in 'mutex_lock(&m->lock)', resulting in a kernel panic.\nWriting to this node requires root privileges, therefore this bug\nhas very little security impact.\n\nTracefs node: /sys/kernel/tracing/error_log\n\nExample Kernel panic:\n\nUnable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000038\nCall trace:\n mutex_lock+0x30/0x110\n seq_lseek+0x34/0xb8\n __arm64_sys_lseek+0x6c/0xb8\n invoke_syscall+0x58/0x13c\n el0_svc_common+0xc4/0x10c\n do_el0_svc+0x24/0x98\n el0_svc+0x24/0x88\n el0t_64_sync_handler+0x84/0xe4\n el0t_64_sync+0x1b4/0x1b8\nCode: d503201f aa0803e0 aa1f03e1 aa0103e9 (c8e97d02)\n---[ end trace 561d1b49c12cf8a5 ]---\nKernel panic - not syncing: Oops: Fatal exception"}],"affected":[{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"unaffected","versions":[{"version":"8a062902be725f647dc8da532b04d836546a369a","status":"affected","lessThan":"93114cbc7cb169f6f26eeaed5286b91bb86b463b","versionType":"git"},{"version":"8a062902be725f647dc8da532b04d836546a369a","status":"affected","lessThan":"7060e5aac6dc195124c106f49106d653a416323a","versionType":"git"},{"version":"8a062902be725f647dc8da532b04d836546a369a","status":"affected","lessThan":"3b5d9b7b875968a8a8c99dac45cb85b705c44802","versionType":"git"},{"version":"8a062902be725f647dc8da532b04d836546a369a","status":"affected","lessThan":"938d5b7a75e18264887387ddf9169db6d8aeef98","versionType":"git"},{"version":"8a062902be725f647dc8da532b04d836546a369a","status":"affected","lessThan":"1e1c9aa9288a46c342f0f2c5c0b1c0876b9b0276","versionType":"git"},{"version":"8a062902be725f647dc8da532b04d836546a369a","status":"affected","lessThan":"02b0095e2fbbc060560c1065f86a211d91e27b26","versionType":"git"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["kernel/trace/trace.c"]},{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"affected","versions":[{"version":"5.2","status":"affected"},{"version":"0","status":"unaffected","lessThan":"5.2","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"5.4.251","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"5.4.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"5.10.188","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"5.10.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"5.15.121","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"5.15.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.1.40","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.1.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.4.5","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.4.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.5","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"*","versionType":"original_commit_for_fix"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["kernel/trace/trace.c"]}],"references":[{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/93114cbc7cb169f6f26eeaed5286b91bb86b463b"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7060e5aac6dc195124c106f49106d653a416323a"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3b5d9b7b875968a8a8c99dac45cb85b705c44802"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/938d5b7a75e18264887387ddf9169db6d8aeef98"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1e1c9aa9288a46c342f0f2c5c0b1c0876b9b0276"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/02b0095e2fbbc060560c1065f86a211d91e27b26"}],"providerMetadata":{"shortName":"Linux","orgId":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67","dateUpdated":"2026-05-11T19:39:34.087Z"},"cpeApplicability":[{"nodes":[{"operator":"OR","negate":false,"cpeMatch":[{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"5.2","versionEndExcluding":"5.4.251"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"5.2","versionEndExcluding":"5.10.188"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"5.2","versionEndExcluding":"5.15.121"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"5.2","versionEndExcluding":"6.1.40"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"5.2","versionEndExcluding":"6.4.5"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"5.2","versionEndExcluding":"6.5"}]}]}],"x_generator":{"engine":"bippy-1.2.0"}}}}}