boxscore/security
CVE · referencelatest edition

Reference page — cumulative record through Wednesday, August 19, 2026 UTC. Reference pages update as the archive grows; only dated daily editions are immutable pages of record.

CVE-2023-53478MEDIUM
Linux Linux — tracing/synthetic: Fix races on freeing last_cmd
  AV  AC  PR  UI  S  C  I  A   CVSS    EPSS   %ile   KEV
   L   H   L   N  U  N  N  H    4.7   .0011    1.3     —
AFFECTED
  Product  Versions                                    Fixed
  Linux    27c888da9867725784bad3d6455d6e53b425fa2b –  —
  Linux    5.18 –                                      6.1.24
TIMELINE
  Oct 1   Reserved by Linux
  Oct 1   Published (CNA: Linux)
  Aug 4   RESCORED — CVE-2023-53478 (Linux). CVSS 7.8 → 4.7 (NVD).
CWE-362 · CNA: Linux · CVSS v3.1 · 3 references · NVD status: Modified

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tracing/synthetic: Fix races on freeing last_cmd Currently, the "last_cmd" variable can be accessed by multiple processes asynchronously when multiple users manipulate synthetic_events node at the same time, it could lead to use-after-free or double-free. This patch add "lastcmd_mutex" to prevent "last_cmd" from being accessed asynchronously. ================================================================ It's easy to reproduce in the KASAN environment by running the two scripts below in different shells. script 1: while : do echo -n -e '\x88' > /sys/kernel/tracing/synthetic_events done script 2: while : do echo -n -e '\xb0' > /sys/kernel/tracing/synthetic_events done ================================================================ double-free scenario: process A process B ------------------- --------------- 1.kstrdup last_cmd 2.free last_cmd 3.free last_cmd(double-free) ================================================================ use-after-free scenario: process A process B ------------------- --------------- 1.kstrdup last_cmd 2.free last_cmd 3.tracing_log_err(use-after-free) ================================================================ Appendix 1. KASAN report double-free: BUG: KASAN: double-free in kfree+0xdc/0x1d4 Free of addr ***** by task sh/4879 Call trace: ... kfree+0xdc/0x1d4 create_or_delete_synth_event+0x60/0x1e8 trace_parse_run_command+0x2bc/0x4b8 synth_events_write+0x20/0x30 vfs_write+0x200/0x830 ... Allocated by task 4879: ... kstrdup+0x5c/0x98 create_or_delete_synth_event+0x6c/0x1e8 trace_parse_run_command+0x2bc/0x4b8 synth_events_write+0x20/0x30 vfs_write+0x200/0x830 ... Freed by task 5464: ... kfree+0xdc/0x1d4 create_or_delete_synth_event+0x60/0x1e8 trace_parse_run_command+0x2bc/0x4b8 synth_events_write+0x20/0x30 vfs_write+0x200/0x830 ... ================================================================ Appendix 2. KASAN report use-after-free: BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in strlen+0x5c/0x7c Read of size 1 at addr ***** by task sh/5483 sh: CPU: 7 PID: 5483 Comm: sh ... __asan_report_load1_noabort+0x34/0x44 strlen+0x5c/0x7c tracing_log_err+0x60/0x444 create_or_delete_synth_event+0xc4/0x204 trace_parse_run_command+0x2bc/0x4b8 synth_events_write+0x20/0x30 vfs_write+0x200/0x830 ... Allocated by task 5483: ... kstrdup+0x5c/0x98 create_or_delete_synth_event+0x80/0x204 trace_parse_run_command+0x2bc/0x4b8 synth_events_write+0x20/0x30 vfs_write+0x200/0x830 ... Freed by task 5480: ... kfree+0xdc/0x1d4 create_or_delete_synth_event+0x74/0x204 trace_parse_run_command+0x2bc/0x4b8 synth_events_write+0x20/0x30 vfs_write+0x200/0x830 ...

Lifecycle

Complete event history — 3 events, chronological
DateEventDetail
October 1, 2025ReservedReserved by Linux
October 1, 2025PublishedPublished (CNA: Linux)
August 4, 2026RESCOREDRESCORED — CVE-2023-53478 (Linux). CVSS 7.8 → 4.7 (NVD).

Affected

Affected products and packages — 2 rows
VendorProduct / PackageEcosystemVersion introducedFixed
LinuxLinux27c888da9867725784bad3d6455d6e53b425fa2b
LinuxLinux5.186.1.24

Weaknesses

CWE-362

References (3)

Related

Authoritative record: CVE-2023-53478 at cve.org

Vendors: linux

Weaknesses: CWE-362

About this page

This is a reference page, not a dated page of record. It assembles the complete lifecycle of CVE-2023-53478 from the CVE Program record, NVD enrichment, the CISA KEV catalog, EPSS, and OSV advisories. The box score's numbers (CVSS, EPSS, KEV status) are current as of Wednesday, August 19, 2026 UTC and are re-derived as the archive grows; only dated daily editions are immutable pages of record. The authoritative source for this identifier is cve.org.