CVE-2023-54211Public exploit

Kernel warning via tracing reference-count imbalance

Published Dec 30, 2025 · Updated Dec 30, 2025

A tracing state-management flaw in affected Linux kernel releases starting with 4.7 allows local users to trigger a kernel warning through tracefs operations. __ftrace_event_enable_disable() enables buffered events once but disables them twice when soft-disable state is cleared during event enabling and again during command removal. Reaching the warning requires writes to tracing control files and deliberate changes to ftrace configuration; the published consequence is a warning, not a demonstrated crash or privilege gain.

CVSS severityUnavailable
Unscored
EPSS probability0.21%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

A tracing state-management flaw in affected Linux kernel releases starting with 4.7 allows local users to trigger a kernel warning through tracefs operations. __ftrace_event_enable_disable() enables buffered events once but disables them twice when soft-disable state is cleared during event enabling and again during command removal. Reaching the warning requires writes to tracing control files and deliberate changes to ftrace configuration; the published consequence is a warning, not a demonstrated crash or privilege gain.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-54211
Published
Dec 30, 2025
Updated
Dec 30, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
Unavailable
Attack vector
local
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Dec 30, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Dec 30, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=0fc1b09ff1ff404ddf753f5ffa5cd0adc8fdcdc9 <1488d782c9e43087a3f341b8186cd25f3cf75583
  2. Affected versionversion=0fc1b09ff1ff404ddf753f5ffa5cd0adc8fdcdc9 <528c9d73153754defb748f0b96ad33308668d817
  3. Affected versionversion=0fc1b09ff1ff404ddf753f5ffa5cd0adc8fdcdc9 <813cede7b2f5a4b1b75d2d4bb4e705cc8e063b20
  4. Affected versionversion=0fc1b09ff1ff404ddf753f5ffa5cd0adc8fdcdc9 <a3a3c7bddab9b6c5690b20796ef5e332b8c48afb
  5. Affected versionversion=0fc1b09ff1ff404ddf753f5ffa5cd0adc8fdcdc9 <a6d2fd1703cdc8ecfc3e73987e0fb7474ae2b074
  6. Affected versionversion=0fc1b09ff1ff404ddf753f5ffa5cd0adc8fdcdc9 <b4f4ab423107dc1ba8e9cc6488c645be6403d3f5
  7. Affected versionversion=0fc1b09ff1ff404ddf753f5ffa5cd0adc8fdcdc9 <cdcc35e6454133feb61561b4e0d0c80e52cbc2ba
  8. Affected versionversion=0fc1b09ff1ff404ddf753f5ffa5cd0adc8fdcdc9 <dea499781a1150d285c62b26659f62fb00824fce
  9. Affected versionversion=4.7

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=0fc1b09ff1ff404ddf753f5ffa5cd0adc8fdcdc9 <1488d782c9e43087a3f341b8186cd25f3cf75583; version=0fc1b09ff1ff404ddf753f5ffa5cd0adc8fdcdc9 <528c9d73153754defb748f0b96ad33308668d817; version=0fc1b09ff1ff404ddf753f5ffa5cd0adc8fdcdc9 <813cede7b2f5a4b1b75d2d4bb4e705cc8e063b20; version=0fc1b09ff1ff404ddf753f5ffa5cd0adc8fdcdc9 <a3a3c7bddab9b6c5690b20796ef5e332b8c48afb; version=0fc1b09ff1ff404ddf753f5ffa5cd0adc8fdcdc9 <a6d2fd1703cdc8ecfc3e73987e0fb7474ae2b074; version=0fc1b09ff1ff404ddf753f5ffa5cd0adc8fdcdc9 <b4f4ab423107dc1ba8e9cc6488c645be6403d3f5; version=0fc1b09ff1ff404ddf753f5ffa5cd0adc8fdcdc9 <cdcc35e6454133feb61561b4e0d0c80e52cbc2ba; version=0fc1b09ff1ff404ddf753f5ffa5cd0adc8fdcdc9 <dea499781a1150d285c62b26659f62fb00824fce; version=4.7

Published CVSS scores

No CVSS assessment is available in this record.

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
Privilegesadmin
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

No sourced classifications are available.

Public exploit references

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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