---
id: CVE-2023-53167
title: 'tracing: Fix null pointer dereference in tracing_err_log_open()'
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  tracing: Fix null pointer dereference in tracing_err_log_open()

  Fix an issue in function 'tracing_err_log_open'.
  The function doesn't call 'seq_open' if the file is op…
severity: none
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= 8a062902be725f647dc8da532b04d836546a369a <
    93114cbc7cb169f6f26eeaed5286b91bb86b463b
  - >-
    Linux >= 8a062902be725f647dc8da532b04d836546a369a <
    7060e5aac6dc195124c106f49106d653a416323a
  - >-
    Linux >= 8a062902be725f647dc8da532b04d836546a369a <
    3b5d9b7b875968a8a8c99dac45cb85b705c44802
  - >-
    Linux >= 8a062902be725f647dc8da532b04d836546a369a <
    938d5b7a75e18264887387ddf9169db6d8aeef98
  - >-
    Linux >= 8a062902be725f647dc8da532b04d836546a369a <
    1e1c9aa9288a46c342f0f2c5c0b1c0876b9b0276
  - >-
    Linux >= 8a062902be725f647dc8da532b04d836546a369a <
    02b0095e2fbbc060560c1065f86a211d91e27b26
  - Linux 5.2
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: partial
  timestamp: '2026-11-05T20:19:23.433772Z'
published: '2025-09-15'
updated: '2026-11-05'
sourceUpdated: '2026-11-05T20:21:05.746Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53167'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/93114cbc7cb169f6f26eeaed5286b91bb86b463b'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7060e5aac6dc195124c106f49106d653a416323a'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3b5d9b7b875968a8a8c99dac45cb85b705c44802'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/938d5b7a75e18264887387ddf9169db6d8aeef98'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1e1c9aa9288a46c342f0f2c5c0b1c0876b9b0276'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/02b0095e2fbbc060560c1065f86a211d91e27b26'
tags:
  - cve.org
epss: 0.0016
epssPercentile: 0.05151
ingestedAt: '2026-11-05T22:38:31.782Z'
---

## Overview

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

tracing: Fix null pointer dereference in tracing_err_log_open()

Fix an issue in function 'tracing_err_log_open'.
The function doesn't call 'seq_open' if the file is opened only with
write permissions, which results in 'file->private_data' being left as null.
If we then use 'lseek' on that opened file, 'seq_lseek' dereferences
'file->private_data' in 'mutex_lock(&m->lock)', resulting in a kernel panic.
Writing to this node requires root privileges, therefore this bug
has very little security impact.

Tracefs node: /sys/kernel/tracing/error_log

Example Kernel panic:

Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000038
Call trace:
 mutex_lock+0x30/0x110
 seq_lseek+0x34/0xb8
 __arm64_sys_lseek+0x6c/0xb8
 invoke_syscall+0x58/0x13c
 el0_svc_common+0xc4/0x10c
 do_el0_svc+0x24/0x98
 el0_svc+0x24/0x88
 el0t_64_sync_handler+0x84/0xe4
 el0t_64_sync+0x1b4/0x1b8
Code: d503201f aa0803e0 aa1f03e1 aa0103e9 (c8e97d02)
---[ end trace 561d1b49c12cf8a5 ]---
Kernel panic - not syncing: Oops: Fatal exception

## Affected

- `Linux >= 8a062902be725f647dc8da532b04d836546a369a < 93114cbc7cb169f6f26eeaed5286b91bb86b463b`
- `Linux >= 8a062902be725f647dc8da532b04d836546a369a < 7060e5aac6dc195124c106f49106d653a416323a`
- `Linux >= 8a062902be725f647dc8da532b04d836546a369a < 3b5d9b7b875968a8a8c99dac45cb85b705c44802`
- `Linux >= 8a062902be725f647dc8da532b04d836546a369a < 938d5b7a75e18264887387ddf9169db6d8aeef98`
- `Linux >= 8a062902be725f647dc8da532b04d836546a369a < 1e1c9aa9288a46c342f0f2c5c0b1c0876b9b0276`
- `Linux >= 8a062902be725f647dc8da532b04d836546a369a < 02b0095e2fbbc060560c1065f86a211d91e27b26`
- `Linux 5.2`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.