CVE-2023-53602

Service interruption via unreleased firmware statistics

Published Oct 4, 2025 · Updated Oct 4, 2025

Memory leak in the ath11k driver in affected Linux kernel releases beginning with 5.6 allows local users to exhaust kernel memory. The ath11k hardware-unregister path omits ath11k_fw_stats_free(), leaving pdev, vdev, and beacon-stat allocations resident after module removal. The condition is limited to systems using the ath11k driver, and each removal leaves kernel memory unavailable for reuse.

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 ath11k driver in affected Linux kernel releases beginning with 5.6 allows local users to exhaust kernel memory. The ath11k hardware-unregister path omits ath11k_fw_stats_free(), leaving pdev, vdev, and beacon-stat allocations resident after module removal. The condition is limited to systems using the ath11k driver, and each removal leaves kernel memory unavailable for reuse.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-53602
Published
Oct 4, 2025
Updated
Oct 4, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-401, T1499.001
Attack vector
local
Privileges
Unavailable

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 4, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Oct 4, 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 <55248d36beb79d3a61c9fb3122dc377fff523c89
  2. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <6aafa1c2d3e3fea2ebe84c018003f2a91722e607
  3. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <86f9330a49d1464849482298dd34d361859183eb

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesUnavailable in this record.

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <55248d36beb79d3a61c9fb3122dc377fff523c89; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <6aafa1c2d3e3fea2ebe84c018003f2a91722e607; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <86f9330a49d1464849482298dd34d361859183eb

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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

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
PrivilegesUnavailable
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-401Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime
T1499.001Endpoint Denial of Service: OS Exhaustion Flood

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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