Linux Kernel up to 6.1.17/6.2.4 debugfs_lookup memory leak

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.17/6.2.4 and classified as critical. This affects the function debugfs_lookup. Such manipulation leads to memory leak. This vulnerability is referenced as CVE-2023-53410. No exploit is available. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.17/6.2.4 and classified as critical. Affected by this issue is the function debugfs_lookup. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a memory leak vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-401. The product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, which slowly consumes remaining memory. Impacted is availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: USB: ULPI: fix memory leak with using debugfs_lookup() When calling debugfs_lookup() the result must have dput() called on it, otherwise the memory will leak over time. To make things simpler, just call debugfs_lookup_and_remove() instead which handles all of the logic at once.

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2023-53410 since 09/17/2025. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 265579 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2023-53410), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.1.18 or 6.2.5 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch dcbe69f4f743a938344b32e60531ea55355e0c08/2b8aa879e28df11e45855b04788050c61fb6b02a/8f4d25eba599c4bd4b5ea8ae8752cda480a9d563 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (265579) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2092). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• Dell Secure Connect Gateway
• IBM QRadar SIEM

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.1.0
• 6.1.1
• 6.1.2
• 6.1.3
• 6.1.4
• 6.1.5
• 6.1.6
• 6.1.7
• 6.1.8
• 6.1.9
• 6.1.10
• 6.1.11
• 6.1.12
• 6.1.13
• 6.1.14
• 6.1.15
• 6.1.16
• 6.1.17
• 6.2.0
• 6.2.1
• 6.2.2
• 6.2.3
• 6.2.4

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

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