CVE-2023-53631

Service interruption via leaked duplicate-attribute references

Published Oct 7, 2025 · Updated Oct 7, 2025

Reference leak in Linux kernel 5.11 and later allows local users to interrupt service through duplicate dell-sysman attributes. In the dell-sysman attribute-registration path, kset_find_obj() acquires a reference for an existing attribute, but the duplicate path fails to release it with kobject_put(). Exploitation requires local low-privileged access and an active Dell systems-management driver; kernel.org does not specify whether exhaustion causes a hang or crash.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.20%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Reference leak in Linux kernel 5.11 and later allows local users to interrupt service through duplicate dell-sysman attributes. In the dell-sysman attribute-registration path, kset_find_obj() acquires a reference for an existing attribute, but the duplicate path fails to release it with kobject_put(). Exploitation requires local low-privileged access and an active Dell systems-management driver; kernel.org does not specify whether exhaustion causes a hang or crash.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-53631
Published
Oct 7, 2025
Updated
Oct 7, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 7, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Oct 7, 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=5.11
  2. Affected versionversion=e8a60aa7404bfef37705da5607c97737073ac38d <6ced15ff1746006476f1407fe722911a45a7874d
  3. Affected versionversion=e8a60aa7404bfef37705da5607c97737073ac38d <7295a996fdab7bf83dc3d4078fa8b139b8e0a1bf
  4. Affected versionversion=e8a60aa7404bfef37705da5607c97737073ac38d <9d9e03bec147407826266580e7d6ec427241d859
  5. Affected versionversion=e8a60aa7404bfef37705da5607c97737073ac38d <c5402011992bcc2b5614fe7fef24f9cdaec7473b
  6. Affected versionversion=e8a60aa7404bfef37705da5607c97737073ac38d <d079a3e1ccdd183b75db4f5289be347980b45284

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=5.11; version=e8a60aa7404bfef37705da5607c97737073ac38d <6ced15ff1746006476f1407fe722911a45a7874d; version=e8a60aa7404bfef37705da5607c97737073ac38d <7295a996fdab7bf83dc3d4078fa8b139b8e0a1bf; version=e8a60aa7404bfef37705da5607c97737073ac38d <9d9e03bec147407826266580e7d6ec427241d859; version=e8a60aa7404bfef37705da5607c97737073ac38d <c5402011992bcc2b5614fe7fef24f9cdaec7473b; version=e8a60aa7404bfef37705da5607c97737073ac38d <d079a3e1ccdd183b75db4f5289be347980b45284

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

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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

T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

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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