CVE-2023-53037

Kernel crash via stale HBA port reference

Published May 2, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026

Use-after-free in Linux kernel 5.14 through 6.1.21, 6.2 through 6.2.8, and 6.3-rc1 allows local users to crash the OS. The mpi3mr driver frees an internal HBA port object after an INQUIRY failure but leaves references uncleared, so a repeated firmware Device Info event dereferences freed memory. SAS Transport Layer support and a device exposed through mpi3mr are required; triggering the sequence corrupts kernel memory and crashes the host.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.20%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Use-after-free in Linux kernel 5.14 through 6.1.21, 6.2 through 6.2.8, and 6.3-rc1 allows local users to crash the OS. The mpi3mr driver frees an internal HBA port object after an INQUIRY failure but leaves references uncleared, so a repeated firmware Device Info event dereferences freed memory. SAS Transport Layer support and a device exposed through mpi3mr are required; triggering the sequence corrupts kernel memory and crashes the host.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-53037
Published
May 2, 2025
Updated
May 11, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-416, T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 2, 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

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Is a vulnerable build present?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=5.14
  2. Affected versionversion=c4f7ac64616ee513f9ac4ae6c4d8c3cccb6974df <1f822ae8fb2a20fffa71e9bfa9b203c03d72d3ba
  3. Affected versionversion=c4f7ac64616ee513f9ac4ae6c4d8c3cccb6974df <8e45183978d64699df639e795235433a60f35047
  4. Affected versionversion=c4f7ac64616ee513f9ac4ae6c4d8c3cccb6974df <aa11e4b6cdb403b9fdef6939550f6b36dd61624d

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=5.14; version=c4f7ac64616ee513f9ac4ae6c4d8c3cccb6974df <1f822ae8fb2a20fffa71e9bfa9b203c03d72d3ba; version=c4f7ac64616ee513f9ac4ae6c4d8c3cccb6974df <8e45183978d64699df639e795235433a60f35047; version=c4f7ac64616ee513f9ac4ae6c4d8c3cccb6974df <aa11e4b6cdb403b9fdef6939550f6b36dd61624d

Published CVSS scores

7.8NISTCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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.

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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-416Use After Free
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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