CVE-2023-53199

Memory exhaustion via leaked receive buffers

Published Sep 15, 2025 · Updated Sep 15, 2025

Resource leakage in the Linux kernel ath9k USB receive path allows local users to exhaust memory through malformed packet metadata. The ath9k_hif_usb_rx_stream function drops an input buffer with an invalid pkt_len or pkt_tag but fails to free buffers already held in skb_pool. Reachability requires the ath9k_htc USB wireless path, and repeated failures can deplete kernel memory until the host service is interrupted.

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

What happened

Resource leakage in the Linux kernel ath9k USB receive path allows local users to exhaust memory through malformed packet metadata. The ath9k_hif_usb_rx_stream function drops an input buffer with an invalid pkt_len or pkt_tag but fails to free buffers already held in skb_pool. Reachability requires the ath9k_htc USB wireless path, and repeated failures can deplete kernel memory until the host service is interrupted.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-53199
Published
Sep 15, 2025
Updated
Sep 15, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-772, T1499
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

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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=2.6.38
  2. Affected versionversion=44b23b488d44e56d467764ecb661830e5b02b308 <0af54343a76263a12dbae7fafb64eb47c4a6ad38
  3. Affected versionversion=44b23b488d44e56d467764ecb661830e5b02b308 <3fc6401fafde11712a83089fa2cc874cfd10e2cd
  4. Affected versionversion=44b23b488d44e56d467764ecb661830e5b02b308 <61490d2710277e8a55009b7682456ae22f8087cf
  5. Affected versionversion=44b23b488d44e56d467764ecb661830e5b02b308 <9acdec72787af1bc8ed92711b52118c8e3e638a2
  6. Affected versionversion=44b23b488d44e56d467764ecb661830e5b02b308 <c766e37fccd5a5c5059be7efcd9618bf8a2c17c3
  7. Affected versionversion=44b23b488d44e56d467764ecb661830e5b02b308 <cd8316767099920a5d41feed1afab0c482a43e9f
  8. Affected versionversion=44b23b488d44e56d467764ecb661830e5b02b308 <f26dd69f61eff2eedf5df2d199bdd23108309947

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=2.6.38; version=44b23b488d44e56d467764ecb661830e5b02b308 <0af54343a76263a12dbae7fafb64eb47c4a6ad38; version=44b23b488d44e56d467764ecb661830e5b02b308 <3fc6401fafde11712a83089fa2cc874cfd10e2cd; version=44b23b488d44e56d467764ecb661830e5b02b308 <61490d2710277e8a55009b7682456ae22f8087cf; version=44b23b488d44e56d467764ecb661830e5b02b308 <9acdec72787af1bc8ed92711b52118c8e3e638a2; version=44b23b488d44e56d467764ecb661830e5b02b308 <c766e37fccd5a5c5059be7efcd9618bf8a2c17c3; version=44b23b488d44e56d467764ecb661830e5b02b308 <cd8316767099920a5d41feed1afab0c482a43e9f; version=44b23b488d44e56d467764ecb661830e5b02b308 <f26dd69f61eff2eedf5df2d199bdd23108309947

Published CVSS scores

5.5SUSECVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
5.5NISTCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
5.5CanonicalCVSS: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 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-772Missing Release of Resource 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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