CVE-2023-53279

Local service interruption via leaked debugfs dentry

Published Sep 16, 2025 · Updated Sep 16, 2025

Resource leak in affected Linux kernel versions allows local users to exhaust memory through VMware balloon debugfs initialization. In drivers/misc/vmw_balloon.c, debugfs_lookup() returns a dentry reference that the caller fails to release with dput(), causing memory to leak over time. Reachability requires low-privilege local access and the VMware balloon driver path; sustained triggering can deplete kernel memory and interrupt the host.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.15%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Resource leak in affected Linux kernel versions allows local users to exhaust memory through VMware balloon debugfs initialization. In drivers/misc/vmw_balloon.c, debugfs_lookup() returns a dentry reference that the caller fails to release with dput(), causing memory to leak over time. Reachability requires low-privilege local access and the VMware balloon driver path; sustained triggering can deplete kernel memory and interrupt the host.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-53279
Published
Sep 16, 2025
Updated
Sep 16, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-401, T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 16, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 16, 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=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <209cdbd07cfaa4b7385bad4eeb47e5ec1887d33d
  2. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <b94b39bf3d545671f210a2257d18e33c8b874699
  3. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <d1c545e44c1ec08bef0c0c14e632eec516431e9c
  4. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <f7651fa88b17c2d7af949981a2423179db5e9453

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <209cdbd07cfaa4b7385bad4eeb47e5ec1887d33d; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <b94b39bf3d545671f210a2257d18e33c8b874699; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <d1c545e44c1ec08bef0c0c14e632eec516431e9c; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <f7651fa88b17c2d7af949981a2423179db5e9453

Published CVSS scores

5.5CISA-ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
5.5SUSECVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
5.5UbuntuCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
6.8SUSECVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
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
T1499.004Application 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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