Linux Kernel up to 5.15.86/6.0.18/6.1.4 crash_load_segments double free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.86/6.0.18/6.1.4. This affects the function crash_load_segments. This manipulation causes double free. This vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2023-54146. No exploit exists. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.86/6.0.18/6.1.4 and classified as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function crash_load_segments. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a double free vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-415. The product calls free() twice on the same memory address, potentially leading to modification of unexpected memory locations. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: x86/kexec: Fix double-free of elf header buffer After b3e34a47f989 ("x86/kexec: fix memory leak of elf header buffer"), freeing image->elf_headers in the error path of crash_load_segments() is not needed because kimage_file_post_load_cleanup() will take care of that later. And not clearing it could result in a double-free. Drop the superfluous vfree() call at the error path of crash_load_segments().

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2023-54146 since 12/24/2025. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 01/03/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 279814 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2023-54146), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.15.87, 6.0.19 or 6.1.5 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 4c71a552b97fb4f46eb300224434fe56fcf4f254/554a880a1fff46dd5a355dec21cd77d542a0ddf2/fbdbf8ac333d3d47c0d9ea81d7d445654431d100/5bd3c7abeb69fb4133418b846a1c6dc11313d6f0/d00dd2f2645dca04cf399d8fc692f3f69b6dd996 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (279814) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2929). If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Affected

• Open Source Linux Kernel

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.15.0
• 5.15.1
• 5.15.2
• 5.15.3
• 5.15.4
• 5.15.5
• 5.15.6
• 5.15.7
• 5.15.8
• 5.15.9
• 5.15.10
• 5.15.11
• 5.15.12
• 5.15.13
• 5.15.14
• 5.15.15
• 5.15.16
• 5.15.17
• 5.15.18
• 5.15.19
• 5.15.20
• 5.15.21
• 5.15.22
• 5.15.23
• 5.15.24
• 5.15.25
• 5.15.26
• 5.15.27
• 5.15.28
• 5.15.29
• 5.15.30
• 5.15.31
• 5.15.32
• 5.15.33
• 5.15.34
• 5.15.35
• 5.15.36
• 5.15.37
• 5.15.38
• 5.15.39
• 5.15.40
• 5.15.41
• 5.15.42
• 5.15.43
• 5.15.44
• 5.15.45
• 5.15.46
• 5.15.47
• 5.15.48
• 5.15.49
• 5.15.50
• 5.15.51
• 5.15.52
• 5.15.53
• 5.15.54
• 5.15.55
• 5.15.56
• 5.15.57
• 5.15.58
• 5.15.59
• 5.15.60
• 5.15.61
• 5.15.62
• 5.15.63
• 5.15.64
• 5.15.65
• 5.15.66
• 5.15.67
• 5.15.68
• 5.15.69
• 5.15.70
• 5.15.71
• 5.15.72
• 5.15.73
• 5.15.74
• 5.15.75
• 5.15.76
• 5.15.77
• 5.15.78
• 5.15.79
• 5.15.80
• 5.15.81
• 5.15.82
• 5.15.83
• 5.15.84
• 5.15.85
• 5.15.86
• 6.0.0
• 6.0.1
• 6.0.2
• 6.0.3
• 6.0.4
• 6.0.5
• 6.0.6
• 6.0.7
• 6.0.8
• 6.0.9
• 6.0.10
• 6.0.11
• 6.0.12
• 6.0.13
• 6.0.14
• 6.0.15
• 6.0.16
• 6.0.17
• 6.0.18
• 6.1.0
• 6.1.1
• 6.1.2
• 6.1.3
• 6.1.4

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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CVSSv4info

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Exploitinginfo

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Entryinfo

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