CVE-2023-52935

Local privilege escalation via anon_vma race

Published Mar 27, 2025 · Updated Aug 5, 2026

Use-after-free in mm/khugepaged in Linux kernel releases starting at 4.8 allows local users to gain kernel privileges or crash the host. retract_page_tables() checks for an attached anon_vma before acquiring the mmap lock, then can remove page tables after a neighboring VMA races to attach one. An unprivileged local process must win this race; concurrent reverse-map traversal can access freed page-table memory.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.19%
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 mm/khugepaged in Linux kernel releases starting at 4.8 allows local users to gain kernel privileges or crash the host. retract_page_tables() checks for an attached anon_vma before acquiring the mmap lock, then can remove page tables after a neighboring VMA races to attach one. An unprivileged local process must win this race; concurrent reverse-map traversal can access freed page-table memory.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-52935
Published
Mar 27, 2025
Updated
Aug 5, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-416, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Mar 27, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 5, 2026Record 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=4.8
  2. Affected versionversion=f3f0e1d2150b2b99da2cbdfaad000089efe9bf30 <023f47a8250c6bdb4aebe744db4bf7f73414028b
  3. Affected versionversion=f3f0e1d2150b2b99da2cbdfaad000089efe9bf30 <352fbf61ce776fef18dca6a68680a6cd943dac95
  4. Affected versionversion=f3f0e1d2150b2b99da2cbdfaad000089efe9bf30 <abdf3c33918185c3e8ffeb09ed3e334b3d7df47c
  5. Affected versionversion=f3f0e1d2150b2b99da2cbdfaad000089efe9bf30 <acb08187b5a83cdb9ac4112fae9e18cf983b0128
  6. Affected versionversion=f3f0e1d2150b2b99da2cbdfaad000089efe9bf30 <cee956ab1efbd858b4ca61c8b474af5aa24b29a6

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=4.8; version=f3f0e1d2150b2b99da2cbdfaad000089efe9bf30 <023f47a8250c6bdb4aebe744db4bf7f73414028b; version=f3f0e1d2150b2b99da2cbdfaad000089efe9bf30 <352fbf61ce776fef18dca6a68680a6cd943dac95; version=f3f0e1d2150b2b99da2cbdfaad000089efe9bf30 <abdf3c33918185c3e8ffeb09ed3e334b3d7df47c; version=f3f0e1d2150b2b99da2cbdfaad000089efe9bf30 <acb08187b5a83cdb9ac4112fae9e18cf983b0128; version=f3f0e1d2150b2b99da2cbdfaad000089efe9bf30 <cee956ab1efbd858b4ca61c8b474af5aa24b29a6

Published CVSS scores

7.8CISA-ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
7.8LinuxCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 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
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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