CVE-2023-54041

Local service interruption via leaked provided-buffer metadata

Published Dec 24, 2025 · Updated Dec 24, 2025

Memory leak in the io_uring provided-buffer removal path in Linux allows local users to interrupt service by exhausting kernel memory. The __io_remove_buffers function removes io_buffer objects from a buffer-group list without moving their page-group allocations into io_buffers_cache for reuse. Repeated provided-buffer removal by a local low-privileged user grows unreclaimed kernel memory; the documented impact is limited to availability.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
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

Memory leak in the io_uring provided-buffer removal path in Linux allows local users to interrupt service by exhausting kernel memory. The __io_remove_buffers function removes io_buffer objects from a buffer-group list without moving their page-group allocations into io_buffers_cache for reuse. Repeated provided-buffer removal by a local low-privileged user grows unreclaimed kernel memory; the documented impact is limited to availability.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-54041
Published
Dec 24, 2025
Updated
Dec 24, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Dec 24, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Dec 24, 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=5.18
  2. Affected versionversion=cc3cec8367cba76a8ae4c271eba8450f3efc1ba3 <ac48787f58d1068f4e06d627c1135784d64b4c72
  3. Affected versionversion=cc3cec8367cba76a8ae4c271eba8450f3efc1ba3 <b4a72c0589fdea6259720375426179888969d6a2
  4. Affected versionversion=cc3cec8367cba76a8ae4c271eba8450f3efc1ba3 <c117c15927772d1624c29c092b6bd3f47c7faa48

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=5.18; version=cc3cec8367cba76a8ae4c271eba8450f3efc1ba3 <ac48787f58d1068f4e06d627c1135784d64b4c72; version=cc3cec8367cba76a8ae4c271eba8450f3efc1ba3 <b4a72c0589fdea6259720375426179888969d6a2; version=cc3cec8367cba76a8ae4c271eba8450f3efc1ba3 <c117c15927772d1624c29c092b6bd3f47c7faa48

Published CVSS scores

5.5SUSECVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 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

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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