Linux Kernel up to 5.15.99/6.1.17/6.2.4 debugfs_lookup memory leak

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as critical has been reported in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.99/6.1.17/6.2.4. This issue affects the function debugfs_lookup. Performing a manipulation results in memory leak. This vulnerability is reported as CVE-2023-53418. No exploit exists. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.99/6.1.17/6.2.4. This affects the function debugfs_lookup. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a memory leak vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-401. The product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, which slowly consumes remaining memory. This is going to have an impact on availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: USB: gadget: lpc32xx_udc: 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.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2023-53418 since 09/17/2025. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 265492 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2023-53418), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.15.100, 6.1.18 or 6.2.5 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 036ada6ca9eea926abc0b0ef550b10488d66d4d8/7a5fdd8660174a8056de57d1fdce3a7e9f77f60e/72c25eb9ae4993ccac4821354ff34eb1f32e4781/e3965acaf3739fde9d74ad82979b46d37c6c208f 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 (265492) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2092). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality 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

• 5.15.0
• 5.15.1
• 5.15.2
• 5.15.3
• 5.15.4
• 5.15.5
• 5.15.6
• 5.15.7
• 5.15.8
• 5.15.9
• 5.15.10
• 5.15.11
• 5.15.12
• 5.15.13
• 5.15.14
• 5.15.15
• 5.15.16
• 5.15.17
• 5.15.18
• 5.15.19
• 5.15.20
• 5.15.21
• 5.15.22
• 5.15.23
• 5.15.24
• 5.15.25
• 5.15.26
• 5.15.27
• 5.15.28
• 5.15.29
• 5.15.30
• 5.15.31
• 5.15.32
• 5.15.33
• 5.15.34
• 5.15.35
• 5.15.36
• 5.15.37
• 5.15.38
• 5.15.39
• 5.15.40
• 5.15.41
• 5.15.42
• 5.15.43
• 5.15.44
• 5.15.45
• 5.15.46
• 5.15.47
• 5.15.48
• 5.15.49
• 5.15.50
• 5.15.51
• 5.15.52
• 5.15.53
• 5.15.54
• 5.15.55
• 5.15.56
• 5.15.57
• 5.15.58
• 5.15.59
• 5.15.60
• 5.15.61
• 5.15.62
• 5.15.63
• 5.15.64
• 5.15.65
• 5.15.66
• 5.15.67
• 5.15.68
• 5.15.69
• 5.15.70
• 5.15.71
• 5.15.72
• 5.15.73
• 5.15.74
• 5.15.75
• 5.15.76
• 5.15.77
• 5.15.78
• 5.15.79
• 5.15.80
• 5.15.81
• 5.15.82
• 5.15.83
• 5.15.84
• 5.15.85
• 5.15.86
• 5.15.87
• 5.15.88
• 5.15.89
• 5.15.90
• 5.15.91
• 5.15.92
• 5.15.93
• 5.15.94
• 5.15.95
• 5.15.96
• 5.15.97
• 5.15.98
• 5.15.99
• 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

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

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