tracing: Free error logs of tracing instances

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.

Scores

EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)

0.16% · top 95% of all CVEs (7 Nov 2026)

CISA SSVC

Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial

The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Medium 5.5.

Weakness

• CWE-401 Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime (opens in a new tab)All about CWE-401 and its CVEs

Affected products

• Linux · Linux

  • affected 2f754e771b1a6feba670782e82c45555984ac43b – < 987f599fc556a4e64c405d8dde32c70311e8c278
  • affected 2f754e771b1a6feba670782e82c45555984ac43b – < 6e36373aa5ffa8e00fe7c71b3209f6f17081e552
  • affected 2f754e771b1a6feba670782e82c45555984ac43b – < 33d5d4e67a0e13c3ca6257fa67bf6503bc000878
  • affected 2f754e771b1a6feba670782e82c45555984ac43b – < c0cf0f55be043ef67c38f492aa37ed1986d2f6b6
  • affected 2f754e771b1a6feba670782e82c45555984ac43b – < 46771c34d6721abfd9e7903eaed2201051eebec6
  • affected 2f754e771b1a6feba670782e82c45555984ac43b – < 3357c6e429643231e60447b52ffbb7ac895aca22

• Linux · Linux

  • affected 5.2
  • unaffected < 5.2
  • unaffected 5.4.241 – ≤ 5.4.*
  • unaffected 5.10.178 – ≤ 5.10.*
  • unaffected 5.15.107 – ≤ 5.15.*
  • unaffected 6.1.24 – ≤ 6.1.*
  • unaffected 6.2.11 – ≤ 6.2.*
  • unaffected 6.3 – ≤ *

References (6)

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/987f599fc556a4e64c405d8dde32c70311e8c278 (opens in a new tab)
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6e36373aa5ffa8e00fe7c71b3209f6f17081e552 (opens in a new tab)
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/33d5d4e67a0e13c3ca6257fa67bf6503bc000878 (opens in a new tab)
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c0cf0f55be043ef67c38f492aa37ed1986d2f6b6 (opens in a new tab)
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/46771c34d6721abfd9e7903eaed2201051eebec6 (opens in a new tab)
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3357c6e429643231e60447b52ffbb7ac895aca22 (opens in a new tab)

Sources

The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.

• CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
• CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
• NVD (opens in a new tab)
• FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
• OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
• GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
• CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)

Badge for a README or a ticket

[![CVE-2023-53375](https://trackcve.app/badge/CVE-2023-53375.svg)](https://trackcve.app/cve/CVE-2023-53375)

Record last updated 11 May 2026, 19:43 UTC.