CVE-2023-53234

MEDIUM EPSS 4.3%
Published Sep 15, 20259mo ago · Modified Jun 17, 20261w ago
5.5 CVSS 3.1
Medium
Find Similar
Published Sep 15, 2025 9mo ago
Last Modified Jun 17, 2026 1w ago

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: watchdog: Fix kmemleak in watchdog_cdev_register kmemleak reports memory leaks in watchdog_dev_register, as follows: unreferenced object 0xffff888116233000 (size 2048): comm ""modprobe"", pid 28147, jiffies 4353426116 (age 61.741s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 80 fa b9 05 81 88 ff ff 08 30 23 16 81 88 ff ff .........0#..... 08 30 23 16 81 88 ff ff 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 .0#............. backtrace: [<000000007f001ffd>] __kmem_cache_alloc_node+0x157/0x220 [<000000006a389304>] kmalloc_trace+0x21/0x110 [<000000008d640eea>] watchdog_dev_register+0x4e/0x780 [watchdog] [<0000000053c9f248>] __watchdog_register_device+0x4f0/0x680 [watchdog] [<00000000b2979824>] watchdog_register_device+0xd2/0x110 [watchdog] [<000000001f730178>] 0xffffffffc10880ae [<000000007a1a8bcc>] do_one_initcall+0xcb/0x4d0 [<00000000b98be325>] do_init_module+0x1ca/0x5f0 [<0000000046d08e7c>] load_module+0x6133/0x70f0 ... unreferenced object 0xffff888105b9fa80 (size 16): comm ""modprobe"", pid 28147, jiffies 4353426116 (age 61.741s) hex dump (first 16 bytes): 77 61 74 63 68 64 6f 67 31 00 b9 05 81 88 ff ff watchdog1....... backtrace: [<000000007f001ffd>] __kmem_cache_alloc_node+0x157/0x220 [<00000000486ab89b>] __kmalloc_node_track_caller+0x44/0x1b0 [<000000005a39aab0>] kvasprintf+0xb5/0x140 [<0000000024806f85>] kvasprintf_const+0x55/0x180 [<000000009276cb7f>] kobject_set_name_vargs+0x56/0x150 [<00000000a92e820b>] dev_set_name+0xab/0xe0 [<00000000cec812c6>] watchdog_dev_register+0x285/0x780 [watchdog] [<0000000053c9f248>] __watchdog_register_device+0x4f0/0x680 [watchdog] [<00000000b2979824>] watchdog_register_device+0xd2/0x110 [watchdog] [<000000001f730178>] 0xffffffffc10880ae [<000000007a1a8bcc>] do_one_initcall+0xcb/0x4d0 [<00000000b98be325>] do_init_module+0x1ca/0x5f0 [<0000000046d08e7c>] load_module+0x6133/0x70f0 ... The reason is that put_device is not be called if cdev_device_add fails and wdd->id != 0. watchdog_cdev_register wd_data = kzalloc [1] err = dev_set_name [2] .. err = cdev_device_add if (err) { if (wdd->id == 0) { // wdd->id != 0 .. } return err; // [1],[2] would be leaked To fix it, call put_device in all wdd->id cases.

CVSS Details

Base Score
5.5
Exploitability
1.8
Impact
3.6
Vector string
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Attack Vector Local
Attack Complexity Low
Privileges Required Low
User Interaction None
Scope Unchanged
Confidentiality None
Integrity None
Availability High

Threat Intelligence

EPSS Exploit Probability
4.3% percentile
Exploit & Patch Status
No Known Exploit
Patch Available

Weaknesses 1

CWE-401

Affected Products 8

VendorProductVersionRange
linuxlinux_kernel*≥4.9.225  –  <4.10
linuxlinux_kernel*≥4.14.182  –  <4.14.308
linuxlinux_kernel*≥4.19.93  –  <4.19.276
linuxlinux_kernel*≥5.4.8  –  <5.4.235
linuxlinux_kernel*≥5.5  –  <5.10.173
linuxlinux_kernel*≥5.11  –  <5.15.100
linuxlinux_kernel*≥5.16  –  <6.1.18
linuxlinux_kernel*≥6.2  –  <6.2.5

References 8

  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/13721a2ac66b246f5802ba1b75ad8637e53eeecc
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/23cc41c3f19c4d858c3708f1c0a06e94958e6c3b
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/50808d034e199fe3ff7a9d2068a4eebeb6b4098a
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/59e391b3fc507a15b7e8e9d9f4de87cae177c366
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8c1655600f4f2839fb844fe8c70b2b65fadc7a56
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ac099d94e0480c937aa9172ab64074981ca1a4d3
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bf26b0e430ce34261f45959989edaf680b64d538
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c5a21a5501508ae3afa2fe6d5a3e74a37fa48df3
    Patch

Remediation

  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/13721a2ac66b246f5802ba1b75ad8637e53eeecc
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/23cc41c3f19c4d858c3708f1c0a06e94958e6c3b
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/50808d034e199fe3ff7a9d2068a4eebeb6b4098a
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/59e391b3fc507a15b7e8e9d9f4de87cae177c366
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8c1655600f4f2839fb844fe8c70b2b65fadc7a56
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ac099d94e0480c937aa9172ab64074981ca1a4d3
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bf26b0e430ce34261f45959989edaf680b64d538
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c5a21a5501508ae3afa2fe6d5a3e74a37fa48df3
    Patch