Linux Kernel up to 5.10.172/5.15.98/6.1.15/6.2.2 media media/i2c/max9286.c max9286_v4l2_register memory leak

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 5.10.172/5.15.98/6.1.15/6.2.2. The affected element is the function max9286_v4l2_register of the file media/i2c/max9286.c of the component media. This manipulation causes memory leak. This vulnerability is registered as CVE-2023-53700. No exploit is available. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.10.172/5.15.98/6.1.15/6.2.2. It has been declared as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function max9286_v4l2_register of the file media/i2c/max9286.c of the component media. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a memory leak vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-401. The product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, which slowly consumes remaining memory. As an impact it is known to affect availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: media: max9286: Fix memleak in max9286_v4l2_register() There is a kmemleak when testing the media/i2c/max9286.c with bpf mock device: kmemleak: 5 new suspected memory leaks (see /sys/kernel/debug/kmemleak) unreferenced object 0xffff88810defc400 (size 256): comm "python3", pid 278, jiffies 4294737563 (age 31.978s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 28 06 a7 0a 81 88 ff ff 00 fe 22 12 81 88 ff ff (........."..... 10 c4 ef 0d 81 88 ff ff 10 c4 ef 0d 81 88 ff ff ................ backtrace: [] __kmalloc_node+0x44/0x1b0 [] kvmalloc_node+0x34/0x180 [] v4l2_ctrl_new+0x325/0x10f0 [videodev] [] v4l2_ctrl_new_std+0x16f/0x210 [videodev] [] max9286_probe+0x76e/0xbff [max9286] [] i2c_device_probe+0x28d/0x680 [] really_probe+0x17c/0x3f0 [] __driver_probe_device+0xe3/0x170 [] driver_probe_device+0x49/0x120 [] __device_attach_driver+0xf7/0x150 [] bus_for_each_drv+0x114/0x180 [] __device_attach+0x1e5/0x2d0 [] bus_probe_device+0x126/0x140 [] device_add+0x810/0x1130 [] i2c_new_client_device+0x359/0x4f0 [] of_i2c_register_device+0xf1/0x110 max9286_v4l2_register() calls v4l2_ctrl_new_std(), but won't free the created v412_ctrl when fwnode_graph_get_endpoint_by_id() failed, which causes the memleak. Call v4l2_ctrl_handler_free() to free the v412_ctrl.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2023-53700 since 10/22/2025. The exploitation appears to be difficult. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 276839 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2023-53700), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.10.173, 5.15.99, 6.1.16 or 6.2.3 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 505ff3a0c5951684c3a43094ca4c1a74683d5681/5897fe3ebe8252993579e1bee715ebfe5504e052/724039e013b34f46344abdbf8c74e6a65a828327/5e31213fa017c20ccc989033a5f4a626473aa2ca/8636c5fc7658c7c6299fb8b352d24ea4b9ba99e2 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 (276839) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2394). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• Dell NetWorker

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.10.172
• 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
• 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
• 6.2.0
• 6.2.1
• 6.2.2

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

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