Linux Kernel up to 6.1.38/6.3.12/6.4.3 nvme_ctrl_dhchap_secret_store memory leak

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.38/6.3.12/6.4.3. This affects the function nvme_ctrl_dhchap_secret_store. This manipulation causes memory leak. This vulnerability is registered as CVE-2023-53852. 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 6.1.38/6.3.12/6.4.3. Affected by this vulnerability is the function nvme_ctrl_dhchap_secret_store. 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: nvme-core: fix memory leak in dhchap_secret_store Free dhchap_secret in nvme_ctrl_dhchap_secret_store() before we return fix following kmemleack:- unreferenced object 0xffff8886376ea800 (size 64): comm "check", pid 22048, jiffies 4344316705 (age 92.199s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 44 48 48 43 2d 31 3a 30 30 3a 6e 78 72 35 4b 67 DHHC-1:00:nxr5Kg 75 58 34 75 6f 41 78 73 4a 61 34 63 2f 68 75 4c uX4uoAxsJa4c/huL backtrace: [<0000000030ce5d4b>] __kmalloc+0x4b/0x130 [<000000009be1cdc1>] nvme_ctrl_dhchap_secret_store+0x8f/0x160 [nvme_core] [<00000000ac06c96a>] kernfs_fop_write_iter+0x12b/0x1c0 [<00000000437e7ced>] vfs_write+0x2ba/0x3c0 [<00000000f9491baf>] ksys_write+0x5f/0xe0 [<000000001c46513d>] do_syscall_64+0x3b/0x90 [<00000000ecf348fe>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x72/0xdc unreferenced object 0xffff8886376eaf00 (size 64): comm "check", pid 22048, jiffies 4344316736 (age 92.168s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 44 48 48 43 2d 31 3a 30 30 3a 6e 78 72 35 4b 67 DHHC-1:00:nxr5Kg 75 58 34 75 6f 41 78 73 4a 61 34 63 2f 68 75 4c uX4uoAxsJa4c/huL backtrace: [<0000000030ce5d4b>] __kmalloc+0x4b/0x130 [<000000009be1cdc1>] nvme_ctrl_dhchap_secret_store+0x8f/0x160 [nvme_core] [<00000000ac06c96a>] kernfs_fop_write_iter+0x12b/0x1c0 [<00000000437e7ced>] vfs_write+0x2ba/0x3c0 [<00000000f9491baf>] ksys_write+0x5f/0xe0 [<000000001c46513d>] do_syscall_64+0x3b/0x90 [<00000000ecf348fe>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x72/0xdc

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2023-53852 since 12/09/2025. 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 278015 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2023-53852), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.1.39, 6.3.13 or 6.4.4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 2e9b141307554521d60fecf6bf1d2edc8dd0181d/c41ac086d2abaf7527a5685f9c0a1c209ab7e0aa/6a5eda5017959541ab82c5d56bcf784b8294e298/a836ca33c5b07d34dd5347af9f64d25651d12674 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 (278015) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2765). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• RESF Rocky Linux

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
• 6.1.28
• 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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Entryinfo

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