FKIE_CVE-2023-53234
Vulnerability from fkie_nvd - Published: 2025-09-15 15:15 - Updated: 2026-06-17 06:44
Severity
5.5 (Medium) - CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
5.5 (Medium) - CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
5.5 (Medium) - CVSS:3.1/
Summary
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.
References
Impacted products
| Vendor | Product | Version | |
|---|---|---|---|
| linux | linux_kernel | * | |
| linux | linux_kernel | * | |
| linux | linux_kernel | * | |
| linux | linux_kernel | * | |
| linux | linux_kernel | * | |
| linux | linux_kernel | * | |
| linux | linux_kernel | * | |
| linux | linux_kernel | * |
{
"affected": [
{
"affectedData": [
{
"defaultStatus": "unaffected",
"product": "Linux",
"programFiles": [
"drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c"
],
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"versions": [
{
"lessThan": "bf26b0e430ce34261f45959989edaf680b64d538",
"status": "affected",
"version": "450caf1faa0d7bbbd1da93d3ee8c5edea7bc51a8",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"lessThan": "8c1655600f4f2839fb844fe8c70b2b65fadc7a56",
"status": "affected",
"version": "f4c36f1999745c2160422fe2f362deadbe3a136b",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"lessThan": "59e391b3fc507a15b7e8e9d9f4de87cae177c366",
"status": "affected",
"version": "ca7851d46de8a8d69022c4e5feed0820483b5f46",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"lessThan": "c5a21a5501508ae3afa2fe6d5a3e74a37fa48df3",
"status": "affected",
"version": "72139dfa2464e43957d330266994740bb7be2535",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"lessThan": "23cc41c3f19c4d858c3708f1c0a06e94958e6c3b",
"status": "affected",
"version": "72139dfa2464e43957d330266994740bb7be2535",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"lessThan": "ac099d94e0480c937aa9172ab64074981ca1a4d3",
"status": "affected",
"version": "72139dfa2464e43957d330266994740bb7be2535",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"lessThan": "50808d034e199fe3ff7a9d2068a4eebeb6b4098a",
"status": "affected",
"version": "72139dfa2464e43957d330266994740bb7be2535",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"lessThan": "13721a2ac66b246f5802ba1b75ad8637e53eeecc",
"status": "affected",
"version": "72139dfa2464e43957d330266994740bb7be2535",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "f76905ce52653e8a821963c35d9013cff19b1399",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"lessThan": "4.14.308",
"status": "affected",
"version": "4.14.182",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThan": "4.19.276",
"status": "affected",
"version": "4.19.93",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThan": "5.4.235",
"status": "affected",
"version": "5.4.8",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThan": "4.10",
"status": "affected",
"version": "4.9.225",
"versionType": "semver"
}
]
},
{
"defaultStatus": "affected",
"product": "Linux",
"programFiles": [
"drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c"
],
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"versions": [
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "5.5"
},
{
"lessThan": "5.5",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "0",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "4.14.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "4.14.308",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "4.19.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "4.19.276",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "5.4.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "5.4.235",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "5.10.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "5.10.173",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "5.15.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "5.15.100",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.1.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.1.18",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.2.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.2.5",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.3",
"versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
}
]
}
],
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
}
],
"configurations": [
{
"nodes": [
{
"cpeMatch": [
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"matchCriteriaId": "1F06A06D-F043-4FC9-8009-F0FF564F7BE3",
"versionEndExcluding": "4.10",
"versionStartIncluding": "4.9.225",
"vulnerable": true
},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"matchCriteriaId": "7E1FBE0A-26CC-4282-B501-BD09D83D5D84",
"versionEndExcluding": "4.14.308",
"versionStartIncluding": "4.14.182",
"vulnerable": true
},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"matchCriteriaId": "5455A75D-91F0-4B25-BC8B-D3E815C7F427",
"versionEndExcluding": "4.19.276",
"versionStartIncluding": "4.19.93",
"vulnerable": true
},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"matchCriteriaId": "D7780B7C-3278-476C-AA1E-432CCA8F6041",
"versionEndExcluding": "5.4.235",
"versionStartIncluding": "5.4.8",
"vulnerable": true
},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"matchCriteriaId": "4D810CFB-B7C5-493C-B98A-0D5F0D8A47B6",
"versionEndExcluding": "5.10.173",
"versionStartIncluding": "5.5",
"vulnerable": true
},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"matchCriteriaId": "6D7E5BB5-018B-46B7-A2C4-1ADB75099822",
"versionEndExcluding": "5.15.100",
"versionStartIncluding": "5.11",
"vulnerable": true
},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"matchCriteriaId": "C8D24FD5-5A98-4042-9419-39DCFCBEFFF5",
"versionEndExcluding": "6.1.18",
"versionStartIncluding": "5.16",
"vulnerable": true
},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"matchCriteriaId": "0575B33B-A320-4E51-84CA-10C937341E02",
"versionEndExcluding": "6.2.5",
"versionStartIncluding": "6.2",
"vulnerable": true
}
],
"negate": false,
"operator": "OR"
}
]
}
],
"cveTags": [],
"descriptions": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nwatchdog: Fix kmemleak in watchdog_cdev_register\n\nkmemleak reports memory leaks in watchdog_dev_register, as follows:\nunreferenced object 0xffff888116233000 (size 2048):\n comm \"\"modprobe\"\", pid 28147, jiffies 4353426116 (age 61.741s)\n hex dump (first 32 bytes):\n 80 fa b9 05 81 88 ff ff 08 30 23 16 81 88 ff ff .........0#.....\n 08 30 23 16 81 88 ff ff 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 .0#.............\n backtrace:\n [\u003c000000007f001ffd\u003e] __kmem_cache_alloc_node+0x157/0x220\n [\u003c000000006a389304\u003e] kmalloc_trace+0x21/0x110\n [\u003c000000008d640eea\u003e] watchdog_dev_register+0x4e/0x780 [watchdog]\n [\u003c0000000053c9f248\u003e] __watchdog_register_device+0x4f0/0x680 [watchdog]\n [\u003c00000000b2979824\u003e] watchdog_register_device+0xd2/0x110 [watchdog]\n [\u003c000000001f730178\u003e] 0xffffffffc10880ae\n [\u003c000000007a1a8bcc\u003e] do_one_initcall+0xcb/0x4d0\n [\u003c00000000b98be325\u003e] do_init_module+0x1ca/0x5f0\n [\u003c0000000046d08e7c\u003e] load_module+0x6133/0x70f0\n ...\n\nunreferenced object 0xffff888105b9fa80 (size 16):\n comm \"\"modprobe\"\", pid 28147, jiffies 4353426116 (age 61.741s)\n hex dump (first 16 bytes):\n 77 61 74 63 68 64 6f 67 31 00 b9 05 81 88 ff ff watchdog1.......\n backtrace:\n [\u003c000000007f001ffd\u003e] __kmem_cache_alloc_node+0x157/0x220\n [\u003c00000000486ab89b\u003e] __kmalloc_node_track_caller+0x44/0x1b0\n [\u003c000000005a39aab0\u003e] kvasprintf+0xb5/0x140\n [\u003c0000000024806f85\u003e] kvasprintf_const+0x55/0x180\n [\u003c000000009276cb7f\u003e] kobject_set_name_vargs+0x56/0x150\n [\u003c00000000a92e820b\u003e] dev_set_name+0xab/0xe0\n [\u003c00000000cec812c6\u003e] watchdog_dev_register+0x285/0x780 [watchdog]\n [\u003c0000000053c9f248\u003e] __watchdog_register_device+0x4f0/0x680 [watchdog]\n [\u003c00000000b2979824\u003e] watchdog_register_device+0xd2/0x110 [watchdog]\n [\u003c000000001f730178\u003e] 0xffffffffc10880ae\n [\u003c000000007a1a8bcc\u003e] do_one_initcall+0xcb/0x4d0\n [\u003c00000000b98be325\u003e] do_init_module+0x1ca/0x5f0\n [\u003c0000000046d08e7c\u003e] load_module+0x6133/0x70f0\n ...\n\nThe reason is that put_device is not be called if cdev_device_add fails\nand wdd-\u003eid != 0.\n\nwatchdog_cdev_register\n wd_data = kzalloc [1]\n err = dev_set_name [2]\n ..\n err = cdev_device_add\n if (err) {\n if (wdd-\u003eid == 0) { // wdd-\u003eid != 0\n ..\n }\n return err; // [1],[2] would be leaked\n\nTo fix it, call put_device in all wdd-\u003eid cases."
}
],
"id": "CVE-2023-53234",
"lastModified": "2026-06-17T06:44:35.080",
"metrics": {
"cvssMetricV31": [
{
"cvssData": {
"attackComplexity": "LOW",
"attackVector": "LOCAL",
"availabilityImpact": "HIGH",
"baseScore": 5.5,
"baseSeverity": "MEDIUM",
"confidentialityImpact": "NONE",
"integrityImpact": "NONE",
"privilegesRequired": "LOW",
"scope": "UNCHANGED",
"userInteraction": "NONE",
"vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H",
"version": "3.1"
},
"exploitabilityScore": 1.8,
"impactScore": 3.6,
"source": "nvd@nist.gov",
"type": "Primary"
},
{
"cvssData": {
"attackComplexity": "LOW",
"attackVector": "LOCAL",
"availabilityImpact": "HIGH",
"baseScore": 5.5,
"baseSeverity": "MEDIUM",
"confidentialityImpact": "NONE",
"integrityImpact": "NONE",
"privilegesRequired": "LOW",
"scope": "UNCHANGED",
"userInteraction": "NONE",
"vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H",
"version": "3.1"
},
"exploitabilityScore": 1.8,
"impactScore": 3.6,
"source": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0",
"type": "Secondary"
}
],
"ssvcV203": [
{
"source": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0",
"ssvcData": {
"id": "CVE-2023-53234",
"options": [
{
"exploitation": "none"
},
{
"automatable": "no"
},
{
"technicalImpact": "partial"
}
],
"role": "CISA Coordinator",
"timestamp": "2026-01-14T17:55:57.957947Z",
"version": "2.0.3"
}
}
]
},
"published": "2025-09-15T15:15:50.420",
"references": [
{
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"tags": [
"Patch"
],
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/13721a2ac66b246f5802ba1b75ad8637e53eeecc"
},
{
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"tags": [
"Patch"
],
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/23cc41c3f19c4d858c3708f1c0a06e94958e6c3b"
},
{
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"tags": [
"Patch"
],
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/50808d034e199fe3ff7a9d2068a4eebeb6b4098a"
},
{
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"tags": [
"Patch"
],
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/59e391b3fc507a15b7e8e9d9f4de87cae177c366"
},
{
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"tags": [
"Patch"
],
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8c1655600f4f2839fb844fe8c70b2b65fadc7a56"
},
{
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"tags": [
"Patch"
],
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ac099d94e0480c937aa9172ab64074981ca1a4d3"
},
{
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"tags": [
"Patch"
],
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bf26b0e430ce34261f45959989edaf680b64d538"
},
{
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"tags": [
"Patch"
],
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c5a21a5501508ae3afa2fe6d5a3e74a37fa48df3"
}
],
"sourceIdentifier": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"vulnStatus": "Modified",
"weaknesses": [
{
"description": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "CWE-401"
}
],
"source": "nvd@nist.gov",
"type": "Primary"
},
{
"description": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "CWE-401"
}
],
"source": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0",
"type": "Secondary"
}
]
}
Loading…
Loading…
Experimental. This forecast is provided for visualization only and may change without notice. Do not use it for operational decisions.
Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date | Other |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
Loading…
The MITRE ATT&CK techniques below are AI-generated suggestions, inferred from the description of the
vulnerability by the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-classification-roberta-base
model, served locally by ML-Gateway.
They have not been verified by an analyst and are provided for guidance only.
The approach is described in our paper Mapping CVEs to MITRE ATT&CK Techniques: A Curated Gold-Set Classifier and the Limits of LLM-Assisted Label Expansion.
Browse all ATT&CK techniques and the vulnerabilities related to each.
The approach is described in our paper Mapping CVEs to MITRE ATT&CK Techniques: A Curated Gold-Set Classifier and the Limits of LLM-Assisted Label Expansion.
Browse all ATT&CK techniques and the vulnerabilities related to each.
Loading…
Related by attack behaviour
Vulnerabilities whose description is nearest to this one in the vector space of the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-biencoder model. This is a similarity search over the bi-encoder space (plain cosine), not a classification, and it has no measured accuracy.
Loading…