{"cve":"CVE-2023-52879","nvd":{"published":"2024-05-21T16:15:24.530","modified":"2026-08-04T10:18:47.223","status":"Modified","description":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\ntracing: Have trace_event_file have ref counters\n\nThe following can crash the kernel:\n\n # cd /sys/kernel/tracing\n # echo 'p:sched schedule' > kprobe_events\n # exec 5>>events/kprobes/sched/enable\n # > kprobe_events\n # exec 5>&-\n\nThe above commands:\n\n 1. Change directory to the tracefs directory\n 2. Create a kprobe event (doesn't matter what one)\n 3. Open bash file descriptor 5 on the enable file of the kprobe event\n 4. Delete the kprobe event (removes the files too)\n 5. Close the bash file descriptor 5\n\nThe above causes a crash!\n\n BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000028\n #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode\n #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page\n PGD 0 P4D 0\n Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP PTI\n CPU: 6 PID: 877 Comm: bash Not tainted 6.5.0-rc4-test-00008-g2c6b6b1029d4-dirty #186\n Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.2-debian-1.16.2-1 04/01/2014\n RIP: 0010:tracing_release_file_tr+0xc/0x50\n\nWhat happens here is that the kprobe event creates a trace_event_file\n\"file\" descriptor that represents the file in tracefs to the event. It\nmaintains state of the event (is it enabled for the given instance?).\nOpening the \"enable\" file gets a reference to the event \"file\" descriptor\nvia the open file descriptor. When the kprobe event is deleted, the file is\nalso deleted from the tracefs system which also frees the event \"file\"\ndescriptor.\n\nBut as the tracefs file is still opened by user space, it will not be\ntotally removed until the final dput() is called on it. But this is not\ntrue with the event \"file\" descriptor that is already freed. If the user\ndoes a write to or simply closes the file descriptor it will reference the\nevent \"file\" descriptor that was just freed, causing a use-after-free bug.\n\nTo solve this, add a ref count to the event \"file\" descriptor as well as a\nnew flag called \"FREED\". The \"file\" will not be freed until the last\nreference is released. But the FREE flag will be set when the event is\nremoved to prevent any more modifications to that event from happening,\neven if there's still a reference to the event \"file\" descriptor.","cvss_v4":null,"cvss_v3":{"version":"3.1","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H","score":5.5},"cwes":["CWE-476"],"references":["https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2c9de867ca285c397cd71af703763fe416265706","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2fa74d29fc1899c237d51bf9a6e132ea5c488976","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9034c87d61be8cff989017740a91701ac8195a1d","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/961c4511c7578d6b8f39118be919016ec3db1c1e","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a98172e36e5f1b3d29ad71fade2d611cfcc2fe6f"],"products":["linux:linux_kernel"],"source":"nvd","synced_at":"2026-10-19T21:50:30.954589733+00:00"},"epss":{"cve":"CVE-2023-52879","score":0.00228,"percentile":0.13572,"date":"2026-10-31"},"kev":null,"osv":[],"attribution":["This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.","EPSS scores: FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System, https://www.first.org/epss","Known exploited vulnerabilities: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","Package advisories: OSV (https://osv.dev), from the GitHub Advisory Database, PyPA, Go, RustSec and other ecosystem databases, under CC-BY 4.0 or CC0","CVE records: the CVE Program's CVE List (https://www.cve.org), under its terms of use (https://www.cve.org/Legal/TermsOfUse). CVE is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation; this product is not affiliated with the CVE Program."]}