CVE-2023-53518 (GCVE-0-2023-53518)
Vulnerability from cvelistv5
Published
2025-10-01 11:46
Modified
2026-08-05 09:14
Severity ?
7.8 (High) - CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: PM / devfreq: Fix leak in devfreq_dev_release() srcu_init_notifier_head() allocates resources that need to be released with a srcu_cleanup_notifier_head() call. Reported by kmemleak.
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version
Linux Linux Version: 0fe3a66410a3ba96679be903f1e287d7a0a264a9
Version: 0fe3a66410a3ba96679be903f1e287d7a0a264a9
Version: 0fe3a66410a3ba96679be903f1e287d7a0a264a9
Version: 0fe3a66410a3ba96679be903f1e287d7a0a264a9
Version: 0fe3a66410a3ba96679be903f1e287d7a0a264a9
Version: 0fe3a66410a3ba96679be903f1e287d7a0a264a9
Version: 0fe3a66410a3ba96679be903f1e287d7a0a264a9
Version: 0fe3a66410a3ba96679be903f1e287d7a0a264a9
Version: 0fe3a66410a3ba96679be903f1e287d7a0a264a9
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{
  "containers": {
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/devfreq/devfreq.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThan": "7462483446cb9986568ad7adae746ce5f18d2968",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "0fe3a66410a3ba96679be903f1e287d7a0a264a9",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
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            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/devfreq/devfreq.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "4.7"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "4.7",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "4.14.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "4.14.326",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "4.19.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "4.19.295",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "5.4.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "5.4.257",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "5.10.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "5.10.195",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "5.15.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "5.15.132",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.1.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.1.53",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.4.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.4.16",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.5.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.5.3",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.6",
              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "cpeApplicability": [
        {
          "nodes": [
            {
              "cpeMatch": [
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "4.14.326",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "4.7",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "4.19.295",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "4.7",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "5.4.257",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "4.7",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "5.10.195",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "4.7",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "5.15.132",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "4.7",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "6.1.53",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "4.7",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "6.4.16",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "4.7",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "6.5.3",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "4.7",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "6.6",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "4.7",
                  "vulnerable": true
                }
              ],
              "negate": false,
              "operator": "OR"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nPM / devfreq: Fix leak in devfreq_dev_release()\n\nsrcu_init_notifier_head() allocates resources that need to be released\nwith a srcu_cleanup_notifier_head() call.\n\nReported by kmemleak."
        }
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "cvssV3_1": {
            "baseScore": 7.8,
            "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
            "version": "3.1"
          },
          "scenarios": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "value": "AV:L - The devfreq release path is reached only through local device-lifecycle operations \u2014 driver bind/unbind via sysfs, module load/unload, or a failed probe \u2014 with no remote or network-facing consumer of this code. There is no packet-driven or adjacent-network path into devfreq_dev_release().\nAC:L - The leak is deterministic \u2014 every devfreq device teardown unconditionally drops the srcu per-CPU allocations, so a repeated unbind/rebind loop reliably exhausts per-CPU memory. The attacker drives both the srcu grace-period activity (governor/notifier teardown) and the immediately following kfree(), so the dangling-work window is attacker-created rather than dependent on external state.\nPR:L - The trigger is a local device-management operation on the affected platform (GPU/UFS/bus devfreq drivers), consistent with how other driver teardown/unload memory-corruption issues are scored; no authentication to a remote service and no capability that is unreachable in practice on the affected embedded/Android deployments is needed.\nUI:N - The attacker performs the bind/unbind or module unload themselves in a loop; no victim action, mount, or file open is required for the leak or the dangling srcu work to occur.\nS:U - The leaked allocations and any resulting corruption are entirely within the kernel\u0027s own memory and security authority, with no crossing into a hypervisor, IOMMU, or other security domain.\nC:H - kfree()ing the devfreq object while the srcu_struct is still live leaves leaked per-CPU srcu_data with dangling -\u003essp pointers and pending srcu work into freed slab memory, a use-after-free that can be groomed to read back kernel data from the reallocated object.\nI:H - The uncleaned srcu_struct embeds a delayed_work and per-CPU timers that can fire after the containing allocation is freed, causing srcu state-machine writes (locks, sequence counters, work_struct/timer list links) into memory an attacker can reallocate \u2014 a write primitive into a controlled heap object.\nA:H - Each teardown leaks srcu_usage, the srcu_node tree, and a per-CPU srcu_data array; per-CPU memory is a scarce vmalloc-backed resource, so repeated cycles exhaust it and cause system-wide allocation failures, and the dangling timer/work references can additionally oops the kernel."
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T09:14:35.040Z",
        "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "shortName": "Linux"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7462483446cb9986568ad7adae746ce5f18d2968"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/64e6e0dc2d578c0a9e31cb4edd719f0a3ed98f6d"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/29811f4b8255d4238cf326f3bb7129784766beab"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ab192e5e5d3b48415909a8408acfd007a607bcc0"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/111bafa210ae546bee7644be730c42df9c35b66e"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8918025feb2f5f7c73f2495c158f22997e25cb02"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1640e9c72173911ad0fddb05012c01eafe082c4e"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3354c401c68d70567d1ef25d12f4e22a7813a3c6"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5693d077595de721f9ddbf9d37f40e5409707dfe"
        }
      ],
      "title": "PM / devfreq: Fix leak in devfreq_dev_release()",
      "x_generator": {
        "engine": "bippy-1.2.0"
      }
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
    "assignerShortName": "Linux",
    "cveId": "CVE-2023-53518",
    "datePublished": "2025-10-01T11:46:05.446Z",
    "dateReserved": "2025-10-01T11:39:39.407Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T09:14:35.040Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2"
}


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