CVE-2023-1249

System crash via unlocked live VMA traversal

Published Mar 23, 2023 · Updated Mar 19, 2025

Use-after-free in the core-dump subsystem in Linux Kernel before 5.18-rc1 allows local users to crash the system during core dumping. The fill_files_note path walks live VMAs without mmap_lock and can dereference a vm_file after concurrent release; the fix instead consumes a refcounted VMA snapshot. Low-privileged local access is required, and the bounded result is a kernel crash rather than disclosed data access or privilege escalation.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.33%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Use-after-free in the core-dump subsystem in Linux Kernel before 5.18-rc1 allows local users to crash the system during core dumping. The fill_files_note path walks live VMAs without mmap_lock and can dereference a vm_file after concurrent release; the fix instead consumes a refcounted VMA snapshot. Low-privileged local access is required, and the bounded result is a kernel crash rather than disclosed data access or privilege escalation.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-1249
Published
Mar 23, 2023
Updated
Mar 19, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux Kernel
Classifications
CWE-416, T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Mar 23, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Mar 19, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=Linux kernel 5.18-rc1

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linux Kernelversion=Linux kernel 5.18-rc1

Published CVSS scores

5.5CanonicalCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
5.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
4.1OracleCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-416Use After Free
T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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