Linux Kernel up to 6.3.3 wifi rtw_usb_intf_deinit memory leak

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.3.3. The impacted element is the function rtw_usb_intf_deinit of the component wifi. Performing a manipulation results in memory leak. This vulnerability is cataloged as CVE-2023-53529. There is no exploit available. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.3.3. This affects the function rtw_usb_intf_deinit of the component wifi. 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: wifi: rtw88: Fix memory leak in rtw88_usb Kmemleak shows the following leak arising from routine in the usb probe routine: unreferenced object 0xffff895cb29bba00 (size 512): comm "(udev-worker)", pid 534, jiffies 4294903932 (age 102751.088s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 77 30 30 30 00 00 00 00 02 2f 2d 2b 30 00 00 00 w000...../-+0... 02 00 2a 28 00 00 00 00 ff 55 ff ff ff 00 00 00 ..*(.....U...... backtrace: [<ffffffff9265fa36>] kmalloc_trace+0x26/0x90 [<ffffffffc17eec41>] rtw_usb_probe+0x2f1/0x680 [rtw_usb] [<ffffffffc03e19fd>] usb_probe_interface+0xdd/0x2e0 [usbcore] [<ffffffff92b4f2fe>] really_probe+0x18e/0x3d0 [<ffffffff92b4f5b8>] __driver_probe_device+0x78/0x160 [<ffffffff92b4f6bf>] driver_probe_device+0x1f/0x90 [<ffffffff92b4f8df>] __driver_attach+0xbf/0x1b0 [<ffffffff92b4d350>] bus_for_each_dev+0x70/0xc0 [<ffffffff92b4e51e>] bus_add_driver+0x10e/0x210 [<ffffffff92b50935>] driver_register+0x55/0xf0 [<ffffffffc03e0708>] usb_register_driver+0x88/0x140 [usbcore] [<ffffffff92401153>] do_one_initcall+0x43/0x210 [<ffffffff9254f42a>] do_init_module+0x4a/0x200 [<ffffffff92551d1c>] __do_sys_finit_module+0xac/0x120 [<ffffffff92ee6626>] do_syscall_64+0x56/0x80 [<ffffffff9300006a>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0 The leak was verified to be real by unloading the driver, which resulted in a dangling pointer to the allocation. The allocated memory is freed in rtw_usb_intf_deinit().

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2023-53529 since 10/01/2025. The exploitability is told to be difficult. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

Upgrading to version 6.3.4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 5bba1ad561a8b5bb14704d8f511cf10466336e3d/59a3a312009723e3e5082899655fdcc420e2b47a 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 vulnerability database at CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2187). 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
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• Dell Secure Connect Gateway

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.3.0
• 6.3.1
• 6.3.2
• 6.3.3

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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