CVE-2023-53190

Local service interruption via leaked VXLAN allocations

Published Sep 15, 2025 · Updated Sep 15, 2025

Memory leak in affected releases of the Linux kernel allows local users to exhaust memory through failed VXLAN device creation. In vxlan_init(), a gro_cells_init() failure returns without calling vxlan_vnigroup_uninit(), leaving the hash table and related allocations unreachable. Triggering the path requires permission to create a VXLAN interface and an initialization failure; repeated attempts consume kernel memory and can interrupt service.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.17%
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 affected releases of the Linux kernel allows local users to exhaust memory through failed VXLAN device creation. In vxlan_init(), a gro_cells_init() failure returns without calling vxlan_vnigroup_uninit(), leaving the hash table and related allocations unreachable. Triggering the path requires permission to create a VXLAN interface and an initialization failure; repeated attempts consume kernel memory and can interrupt service.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-53190
Published
Sep 15, 2025
Updated
Sep 15, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-401, T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 15, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 15, 2025Record 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=5.18
  2. Affected versionversion=f9c4bb0b245cee35ef66f75bf409c9573d934cf9 <06bf62944144a92d83dd14fd1378d2a288259561
  3. Affected versionversion=f9c4bb0b245cee35ef66f75bf409c9573d934cf9 <5896f55810680391a32652ca2b91245a05c11e22
  4. Affected versionversion=f9c4bb0b245cee35ef66f75bf409c9573d934cf9 <75c1ab900f7cf0485f0be1607c79c55f51faaa90

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=5.18; version=f9c4bb0b245cee35ef66f75bf409c9573d934cf9 <06bf62944144a92d83dd14fd1378d2a288259561; version=f9c4bb0b245cee35ef66f75bf409c9573d934cf9 <5896f55810680391a32652ca2b91245a05c11e22; version=f9c4bb0b245cee35ef66f75bf409c9573d934cf9 <75c1ab900f7cf0485f0be1607c79c55f51faaa90

Published CVSS scores

5.5NVDCVSS: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 exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-401Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime
T1499.004Endpoint Denial of Service: Application or System Exploitation

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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