CVE-2023-53406

Memory exhaustion via unreleased debugfs dentry references

Published Sep 18, 2025 · Updated Sep 18, 2025

Memory leakage in the Linux kernel's pxa25x USB gadget controller allows local users to exhaust kernel memory over time. The pxa25x_udc debugfs cleanup path calls debugfs_lookup() without releasing the returned dentry reference with dput(). A low-privileged local user must repeatedly reach the affected cleanup path; accumulated references can deplete 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 the Linux kernel's pxa25x USB gadget controller allows local users to exhaust kernel memory over time. The pxa25x_udc debugfs cleanup path calls debugfs_lookup() without releasing the returned dentry reference with dput(). A low-privileged local user must repeatedly reach the affected cleanup path; accumulated references can deplete memory and interrupt service.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-53406
Published
Sep 18, 2025
Updated
Sep 18, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-401
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 <6236a6d2cdfb710bd8a82c4b179d0a034d0d99cb
  2. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <78d9586d8e728be1e360d3d0da7170c791d1d55e
  3. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <7a038a681b7df78362d9fc7013e5395a694a9d3a
  4. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <8d48a7887dbca22e064c20caf20ae7949019fe9b

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <6236a6d2cdfb710bd8a82c4b179d0a034d0d99cb; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <78d9586d8e728be1e360d3d0da7170c791d1d55e; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <7a038a681b7df78362d9fc7013e5395a694a9d3a; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <8d48a7887dbca22e064c20caf20ae7949019fe9b

Published CVSS scores

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

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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