CVE-2023-53402

Service interruption via unreleased debugfs dentry

Published Sep 18, 2025 · Updated Sep 18, 2025

Memory leakage in kernel/printk/index.c in affected Linux 5.15 through 6.2 releases allows local users to exhaust memory during module removal. The pi_remove_file function passes the dentry returned by debugfs_lookup directly to debugfs_remove without releasing the lookup reference, retaining memory after each teardown. Reachability requires module support and local ability to unload modules; repeated unload cycles can deplete kernel memory and interrupt service.

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 leakage in kernel/printk/index.c in affected Linux 5.15 through 6.2 releases allows local users to exhaust memory during module removal. The pi_remove_file function passes the dentry returned by debugfs_lookup directly to debugfs_remove without releasing the lookup reference, retaining memory after each teardown. Reachability requires module support and local ability to unload modules; repeated unload cycles can deplete kernel memory and interrupt service.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-53402
Published
Sep 18, 2025
Updated
Sep 18, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-401, T1499.004
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 <13969236b6900b5a3625ad2193569588e978f1cc
  2. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <2e07fa2e30d48d24a791483774a3d4b76769e0cf
  3. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <55bf243c514553e907efcf2bda92ba090eca8c64
  4. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <c578a68ffcdc2e8c72556bebdaae2b7500398e81

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <13969236b6900b5a3625ad2193569588e978f1cc; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <2e07fa2e30d48d24a791483774a3d4b76769e0cf; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <55bf243c514553e907efcf2bda92ba090eca8c64; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <c578a68ffcdc2e8c72556bebdaae2b7500398e81

Published CVSS scores

5.5NIST NVDCVSS: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.

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Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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