CVE-2023-53355

Local kernel-memory exhaustion via leaked dentry references

Published Sep 17, 2025 · Updated Sep 17, 2025

Memory leak in the pi433 debugfs interface in affected Linux kernels allows local users to exhaust kernel memory through device removal. The pi433 cleanup path calls debugfs_lookup() without releasing the returned dentry reference with dput(), so repeated cleanup leaks memory. Exploitation requires local low-privileged access to reach the pi433 device cleanup path; confidentiality and integrity are unaffected.

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

Memory leak in the pi433 debugfs interface in affected Linux kernels allows local users to exhaust kernel memory through device removal. The pi433 cleanup path calls debugfs_lookup() without releasing the returned dentry reference with dput(), so repeated cleanup leaks memory. Exploitation requires local low-privileged access to reach the pi433 device cleanup path; confidentiality and integrity are unaffected.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-53355
Published
Sep 17, 2025
Updated
Sep 17, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-401, T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 17, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 17, 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=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <04f3cda40e9f6653ae15ed3fcf26ef2860f4df66
  2. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <2f36e789e540df6a9fbf471b3a2ba62a8b361586
  3. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <bb16f3102607b69e1a0233f4b73c6e337f86ef8d

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <04f3cda40e9f6653ae15ed3fcf26ef2860f4df66; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <2f36e789e540df6a9fbf471b3a2ba62a8b361586; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <bb16f3102607b69e1a0233f4b73c6e337f86ef8d

Published CVSS scores

5.5CISA ADPCVSS: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-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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