CVE-2023-52936

Service interruption via unreleased debugfs dentry references

Published Mar 27, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026

Memory leak in the Linux kernel allows local users to exhaust kernel memory and interrupt service through local activity. irq_domain_debugfs_remove() calls debugfs_lookup() without releasing the returned dentry reference with dput(), so each affected removal retains kernel memory. The public record establishes low-privilege local reachability, but it does not identify the user-controlled action required to invoke IRQ-domain removal.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.24%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Memory leak in the Linux kernel allows local users to exhaust kernel memory and interrupt service through local activity. irq_domain_debugfs_remove() calls debugfs_lookup() without releasing the returned dentry reference with dput(), so each affected removal retains kernel memory. The public record establishes low-privilege local reachability, but it does not identify the user-controlled action required to invoke IRQ-domain removal.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-52936
Published
Mar 27, 2025
Updated
May 11, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-401, T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Mar 27, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. May 11, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=5.12
  2. Affected versionversion=69dd4503a7e6bae3389b8e028e5768008be8f2d7 <066ecbf1a53eb0b92b10c8df7808666be6ea5681
  3. Affected versionversion=69dd4503a7e6bae3389b8e028e5768008be8f2d7 <cf1c917bf1c761a557b26410024e90057646c049
  4. Affected versionversion=69dd4503a7e6bae3389b8e028e5768008be8f2d7 <d83d7ed260283560700d4034a80baad46620481b

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=5.12; version=69dd4503a7e6bae3389b8e028e5768008be8f2d7 <066ecbf1a53eb0b92b10c8df7808666be6ea5681; version=69dd4503a7e6bae3389b8e028e5768008be8f2d7 <cf1c917bf1c761a557b26410024e90057646c049; version=69dd4503a7e6bae3389b8e028e5768008be8f2d7 <d83d7ed260283560700d4034a80baad46620481b

Published CVSS scores

5.5CISA-ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-401Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime
T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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