Linux Kernel up to 5.15.120/6.1.38/6.3.12/6.4.3 clk devm_clk_notifier_register memory leak

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.120/6.1.38/6.3.12/6.4.3. It has been classified as critical. This impacts the function devm_clk_notifier_register of the component clk. The manipulation leads to memory leak. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2023-53674. There is no exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.120/6.1.38/6.3.12/6.4.3 and classified as critical. This issue affects the function devm_clk_notifier_register of the component clk. 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. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: clk: Fix memory leak in devm_clk_notifier_register() devm_clk_notifier_register() allocates a devres resource for clk notifier but didn't register that to the device, so the notifier didn't get unregistered on device detach and the allocated resource was leaked. Fix the issue by registering the resource through devres_add(). This issue was found with kmemleak on a Chromebook.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2023-53674 since 10/07/2025. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

Upgrading to version 5.15.121, 6.1.39, 6.3.13 or 6.4.4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch a326cf0107b197e649bbaa2a2b1355894826ce32/49451db71b746df990888068961f1033f7c9b734/cb1b04fd4283fc8f9acefe0ddc61ba072ed44877/efbbda79b2881a04dcd0e8f28634933d79e17e49/7fb933e56f77a57ef7cfc59fc34cbbf1b1fa31ff 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 EUVD (EUVD-2025-31940) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2229). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source 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

• 5.15.120
• 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
• 6.1.28
• 6.1.29
• 6.1.30
• 6.1.31
• 6.1.32
• 6.1.33
• 6.1.34
• 6.1.35
• 6.1.36
• 6.1.37
• 6.1.38
• 6.3.0
• 6.3.1
• 6.3.2
• 6.3.3
• 6.3.4
• 6.3.5
• 6.3.6
• 6.3.7
• 6.3.8
• 6.3.9
• 6.3.10
• 6.3.11
• 6.3.12
• 6.4.0
• 6.4.1
• 6.4.2
• 6.4.3

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Exploitinginfo

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Entryinfo

Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

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