CVE-2023-54268

Local service interruption via unsafe kswapd wakeup

Published Dec 30, 2025 · Updated Dec 30, 2025

Improper locking in the Linux kernel debugobjects subsystem allows local users to interrupt service through memory allocation. The fill_pool() path allocates with GFP_ATOMIC, whose __GFP_KSWAPD_RECLAIM flag wakes kswapd and acquires kswapd_wait::lock while arbitrary locks can already be held. Local low-privileged access is required, and the unsafe lock ordering interrupts host availability without reported data exposure.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.20%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Improper locking in the Linux kernel debugobjects subsystem allows local users to interrupt service through memory allocation. The fill_pool() path allocates with GFP_ATOMIC, whose __GFP_KSWAPD_RECLAIM flag wakes kswapd and acquires kswapd_wait::lock while arbitrary locks can already be held. Local low-privileged access is required, and the unsafe lock ordering interrupts host availability without reported data exposure.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-54268
Published
Dec 30, 2025
Updated
Dec 30, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

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

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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=2.6.26
  2. Affected versionversion=3ac7fe5a4aab409bd5674d0b070bce97f9d20872 <4c088d30a72d9b8f9c6ae9362222942e4075cb00
  3. Affected versionversion=3ac7fe5a4aab409bd5674d0b070bce97f9d20872 <aee97eec77029270866c704f66cdf2881cbd2fe1
  4. Affected versionversion=3ac7fe5a4aab409bd5674d0b070bce97f9d20872 <be646802b3dc408c4dc72a3ac32c3f4a0282414d
  5. Affected versionversion=3ac7fe5a4aab409bd5674d0b070bce97f9d20872 <d7fff52c99d52f180d8bef95d8ed8fec6343889c
  6. Affected versionversion=3ac7fe5a4aab409bd5674d0b070bce97f9d20872 <eb799279fb1f9c63c520fe8c1c41cb9154252db6
  7. Affected versionversion=3ac7fe5a4aab409bd5674d0b070bce97f9d20872 <fd673079749bac97bb30f1461df079e6c8e86511

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=2.6.26; version=3ac7fe5a4aab409bd5674d0b070bce97f9d20872 <4c088d30a72d9b8f9c6ae9362222942e4075cb00; version=3ac7fe5a4aab409bd5674d0b070bce97f9d20872 <aee97eec77029270866c704f66cdf2881cbd2fe1; version=3ac7fe5a4aab409bd5674d0b070bce97f9d20872 <be646802b3dc408c4dc72a3ac32c3f4a0282414d; version=3ac7fe5a4aab409bd5674d0b070bce97f9d20872 <d7fff52c99d52f180d8bef95d8ed8fec6343889c; version=3ac7fe5a4aab409bd5674d0b070bce97f9d20872 <eb799279fb1f9c63c520fe8c1c41cb9154252db6; version=3ac7fe5a4aab409bd5674d0b070bce97f9d20872 <fd673079749bac97bb30f1461df079e6c8e86511

Published CVSS scores

5.5Amazon LinuxCVSS: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.

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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

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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