CVE-2023-53390

Service interrupt via unreleased debugfs lookup

Published Sep 18, 2025 · Updated Sep 18, 2025

Memory leak in the Linux kernel driver core allows local users to exhaust memory through the deferred-probe cleanup path. The deferred_probe_exit() function passes the dentry returned by debugfs_lookup() to debugfs_remove_recursive() without dropping the lookup reference, so the cleanup leaves kernel memory allocated. Low-privileged local access is the published gate, and sustained memory exhaustion can hang or crash the host without exposing or modifying data.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.14%
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 Linux kernel driver core allows local users to exhaust memory through the deferred-probe cleanup path. The deferred_probe_exit() function passes the dentry returned by debugfs_lookup() to debugfs_remove_recursive() without dropping the lookup reference, so the cleanup leaves kernel memory allocated. Low-privileged local access is the published gate, and sustained memory exhaustion can hang or crash the host without exposing or modifying data.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-53390
Published
Sep 18, 2025
Updated
Sep 18, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-401, T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 18, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 18, 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 <36c893d3a759ae7c91ee7d4871ebfc7504f08c40
  2. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <5a7a9efdb193d3c8a35821548a8e99612c358828
  3. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <7f1e53f88e8babf293ec052b70aa9d2a3554360c
  4. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <8e47e2bf78812adbd73c45c941d3c51add30b58d

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <36c893d3a759ae7c91ee7d4871ebfc7504f08c40; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <5a7a9efdb193d3c8a35821548a8e99612c358828; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <7f1e53f88e8babf293ec052b70aa9d2a3554360c; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <8e47e2bf78812adbd73c45c941d3c51add30b58d

Published CVSS scores

5.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
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 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
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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