Kernel pointer disclosure via speculative scalar overwrite
Published Mar 27, 2025 · Updated May 23, 2026
Information disclosure in the Linux kernel eBPF verifier allows local users to recover kernel pointer values through a cache side channel. The check_stack_write() path omits an lfence when a scalar overwrites a stack slot that previously held a pointer, permitting speculative pointer-as-scalar confusion. Low-privileged execution of crafted unprivileged BPF bytecode can reveal a 64-bit address on amd64, while branchless bounds enforcement prevents invalid accesses.
Summary
What happened
Information disclosure in the Linux kernel eBPF verifier allows local users to recover kernel pointer values through a cache side channel. The check_stack_write() path omits an lfence when a scalar overwrites a stack slot that previously held a pointer, permitting speculative pointer-as-scalar confusion. Low-privileged execution of crafted unprivileged BPF bytecode can reveal a 64-bit address on amd64, while branchless bounds enforcement prevents invalid accesses.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-53024
- Published
- Mar 27, 2025
- Updated
- May 23, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- Unavailable
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Mar 27, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 23, 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.
- Affected versionversion=0b27bdf02c400684225ee5ee99970bcbf5082282
- Affected versionversion=0e9280654aa482088ee6ef3deadef331f5ac5fb0 <da75dec7c6617bddad418159ffebcb133f008262
- Affected versionversion=2039f26f3aca5b0e419b98f65dd36481337b86ee <01bdcc73dbe7be3ad4d4ee9a59b71e42f461a528
- Affected versionversion=2039f26f3aca5b0e419b98f65dd36481337b86ee <b0c89ef025562161242a7c19b213bd6b272e93df
- Affected versionversion=2039f26f3aca5b0e419b98f65dd36481337b86ee <e4f4db47794c9f474b184ee1418f42e6a07412b6
- Affected versionversion=4.19.207 <4.19.272
- Affected versionversion=5.10.56 <5.10.166
- Affected versionversion=5.13.8 <5.14
- Affected versionversion=5.14
- Affected versionversion=5.4.146 <5.4.231
- Affected versionversion=872968502114d68c21419cf7eb5ab97717e7b803 <aae109414a57ab4164218f36e2e4a17f027fcaaa
- Affected versionversion=f5893af2704eb763eb982f01d573f5b19f06b623 <81b3374944d201872cfcf82730a7860f8e7c31dd
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
No sourced classifications are available.
Public exploit references
- Inline unprivileged BPF pointer-leak proof of conceptproof of concept · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
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