Linux Kernel up to 6.1.27/6.2.14/6.3.1 adev_release use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.27/6.2.14/6.3.1. Impacted is the function adev_release. This manipulation causes use after free. This vulnerability is registered as CVE-2023-53636. No exploit is available. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.27/6.2.14/6.3.1. Affected by this vulnerability is the function adev_release. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: clk: microchip: fix potential UAF in auxdev release callback Similar to commit 1c11289b34ab ("peci: cpu: Fix use-after-free in adev_release()"), the auxiliary device is not torn down in the correct order. If auxiliary_device_add() fails, the release callback will be called twice, resulting in a UAF. Due to timing, the auxdev code in this driver "took inspiration" from the aforementioned commit, and thus its bugs too! Moving auxiliary_device_uninit() to the unregister callback instead avoids the issue.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2023-53636 since 10/07/2025. The exploitation appears to be easy. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 03/01/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.1.28, 6.2.15 or 6.3.2 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 5b4052aa956e11bcd19e50ca559eb38dcb46201b/d7d6dacf39ed102d7667721ca1700022c9c8b11a/934406b2d42eaf3fc57f5546cc68ff7ab9680bb3/7455b7007b9e93bcc2bc9c1c6c73a228e3152069 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-2025-2229). 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
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• IBM QRadar SIEM
• Dell NetWorker

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
• 6.1.18
• 6.1.19
• 6.1.20
• 6.1.21
• 6.1.22
• 6.1.23
• 6.1.24
• 6.1.25
• 6.1.26
• 6.1.27
• 6.2.0
• 6.2.1
• 6.2.2
• 6.2.3
• 6.2.4
• 6.2.5
• 6.2.6
• 6.2.7
• 6.2.8
• 6.2.9
• 6.2.10
• 6.2.11
• 6.2.12
• 6.2.13
• 6.2.14
• 6.3.0
• 6.3.1

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

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

Discussion