CVE-2023-53641

Kernel-memory exhaustion via leaked ath9k receive buffers

Published Oct 7, 2025 · Updated Oct 7, 2025

Memory leak in the ath9k USB receive path in Linux allows local users to exhaust kernel memory during USB device teardown or suspend. The ath9k_hif_usb_rx_stream function caches remain_skb for the next receive call, but teardown can deallocate the URBs without freeing that buffer. Reachability requires an ath9k USB Wi-Fi device and repeated deinitialization or suspend, causing availability loss through unreclaimed kernel memory.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.16%
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 ath9k USB receive path in Linux allows local users to exhaust kernel memory during USB device teardown or suspend. The ath9k_hif_usb_rx_stream function caches remain_skb for the next receive call, but teardown can deallocate the URBs without freeing that buffer. Reachability requires an ath9k USB Wi-Fi device and repeated deinitialization or suspend, causing availability loss through unreclaimed kernel memory.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-53641
Published
Oct 7, 2025
Updated
Oct 7, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-401, T1499.004
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=2.6.35
  2. Affected versionversion=fb9987d0f748c983bb795a86f47522313f701a08 <320d760a35273aa815d58b57e4fd9ba5279a3489
  3. Affected versionversion=fb9987d0f748c983bb795a86f47522313f701a08 <59073060fe0950c6ecbe12bdc06469dcac62128d
  4. Affected versionversion=fb9987d0f748c983bb795a86f47522313f701a08 <6719e3797ec52cd144c8a5ba8aaab36674800585
  5. Affected versionversion=fb9987d0f748c983bb795a86f47522313f701a08 <7654cc03eb699297130b693ec34e25f77b17c947
  6. Affected versionversion=fb9987d0f748c983bb795a86f47522313f701a08 <8f02d538878c9b1501f624595eb22ee4e5e0ff84
  7. Affected versionversion=fb9987d0f748c983bb795a86f47522313f701a08 <9b9356a3014123f0ce4b50d9278c1265173150ab
  8. Affected versionversion=fb9987d0f748c983bb795a86f47522313f701a08 <d9899318660791141ea6002fda5577b2c5d7386e
  9. Affected versionversion=fb9987d0f748c983bb795a86f47522313f701a08 <f0931fc8f4b6847c72e170d2326861c0a081d680

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=2.6.35; version=fb9987d0f748c983bb795a86f47522313f701a08 <320d760a35273aa815d58b57e4fd9ba5279a3489; version=fb9987d0f748c983bb795a86f47522313f701a08 <59073060fe0950c6ecbe12bdc06469dcac62128d; version=fb9987d0f748c983bb795a86f47522313f701a08 <6719e3797ec52cd144c8a5ba8aaab36674800585; version=fb9987d0f748c983bb795a86f47522313f701a08 <7654cc03eb699297130b693ec34e25f77b17c947; version=fb9987d0f748c983bb795a86f47522313f701a08 <8f02d538878c9b1501f624595eb22ee4e5e0ff84; version=fb9987d0f748c983bb795a86f47522313f701a08 <9b9356a3014123f0ce4b50d9278c1265173150ab; version=fb9987d0f748c983bb795a86f47522313f701a08 <d9899318660791141ea6002fda5577b2c5d7386e; version=fb9987d0f748c983bb795a86f47522313f701a08 <f0931fc8f4b6847c72e170d2326861c0a081d680

Published CVSS scores

5.5UbuntuCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
7.0Amazon LinuxCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 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.

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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