CVE-2023-53118Public exploit

Local service interruption via duplicate reference decrement

Published May 2, 2025 · Updated May 23, 2026

Reference-counting error in Linux kernel SCSI core 4.19.278, 5.4.237, 5.10.175, 5.15.103, 6.1.20, and 6.2.7 allows local users to interrupt service. The scsi_remove_host path can call scsi_proc_hostdir_rm() more than once for one host, repeatedly decrementing the procfs host-directory reference count. Local users with low privileges must reach SCSI host removal, and the published impact is limited to loss of availability.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.19%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Reference-counting error in Linux kernel SCSI core 4.19.278, 5.4.237, 5.10.175, 5.15.103, 6.1.20, and 6.2.7 allows local users to interrupt service. The scsi_remove_host path can call scsi_proc_hostdir_rm() more than once for one host, repeatedly decrementing the procfs host-directory reference count. Local users with low privileges must reach SCSI host removal, and the published impact is limited to loss of availability.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-53118
Published
May 2, 2025
Updated
May 23, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 2, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. May 23, 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=13daafe1e209b03e9bda16ff2bd2b2da145a139b
  2. Affected versionversion=17e98a5ede81b7696bec421f7afa2dfe467f5e6b <7e0ae8667fcdd99d1756922e1140cac75f5fa279
  3. Affected versionversion=1ec363599f8346d5a8d08c71a0d9860d6c420ec0 <73f030d4ef6d1ad17f824a0a2eb637ef7a9c7d51
  4. Affected versionversion=4.19.278 <4.20
  5. Affected versionversion=5.10.175 <5.10.176
  6. Affected versionversion=5.15.103 <5.15.104
  7. Affected versionversion=5.4.237 <5.4.238
  8. Affected versionversion=6.1.20 <6.1.21
  9. Affected versionversion=6.2.7 <6.2.8
  10. Affected versionversion=6b223e32d66ca9db1f252f433514783d8b22a8e1 <68c665bb185037e7eb66fb792c61da9d7151e99c
  11. Affected versionversion=891a3cba425cf483d96facca55aebd6ff1da4338 <88c3d3bb6469cea929ac68fd326bdcbefcdfdd83
  12. Affected versionversion=e471e928de97b00f297ad1015cc14f9459765713 <2a764d55e938743efa7c2cba7305633bcf227f09
  13. Affected versionversion=fc663711b94468f4e1427ebe289c9f05669699c9 <be03df3d4bfe7e8866d4aa43d62e648ffe884f5f

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=13daafe1e209b03e9bda16ff2bd2b2da145a139b; version=17e98a5ede81b7696bec421f7afa2dfe467f5e6b <7e0ae8667fcdd99d1756922e1140cac75f5fa279; version=1ec363599f8346d5a8d08c71a0d9860d6c420ec0 <73f030d4ef6d1ad17f824a0a2eb637ef7a9c7d51; version=4.19.278 <4.20; version=5.10.175 <5.10.176; version=5.15.103 <5.15.104; version=5.4.237 <5.4.238; version=6.1.20 <6.1.21; version=6.2.7 <6.2.8; version=6b223e32d66ca9db1f252f433514783d8b22a8e1 <68c665bb185037e7eb66fb792c61da9d7151e99c; version=891a3cba425cf483d96facca55aebd6ff1da4338 <88c3d3bb6469cea929ac68fd326bdcbefcdfdd83; version=e471e928de97b00f297ad1015cc14f9459765713 <2a764d55e938743efa7c2cba7305633bcf227f09; version=fc663711b94468f4e1427ebe289c9f05669699c9 <be03df3d4bfe7e8866d4aa43d62e648ffe884f5f

Published CVSS scores

5.5NIST NVDCVSS: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.

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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 exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

Public exploit references

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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