NVD / CVE Program· CNA Linux

CVE-2023-53515: virtio-mmio: don't break lifecycle of vm_dev

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 31/100)

The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.15% (FIRST EPSS).
Someone with local access to the system can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
Fixed version: Linux Linux 2dcb368fe5a8eee498ca75c93a18ce2f3b0d6a8e, 3ff54d904fafabd0912796785e53cce4e69ca123, 55c91fedd03d7b9cf0c5199b2eb12b9b8e95281a.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to Linux Linux 2dcb368fe5a8eee498ca75c93a18ce2f3b0d6a8e, 3ff54d904fafabd0912796785e53cce4e69ca123, 55c91fedd03d7b9cf0c5199b2eb12b9b8e95281a or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: virtio-mmio: don't break lifecycle of vm_dev vm_dev has a separate lifecycle because it has a 'struct device' embedded. Thus, having a release callback for it is correct. Allocating the vm_dev struct with devres totally breaks this protection, though. Instead of waiting for the vm_dev release callback, the memory is freed when the platform_device is removed. Resulting in a use-after-free when finally the callback is to be called. To easily see the problem, compile the kernel with CONFIG_DEBUG_KOBJECT_RELEASE and unbind with sysfs. The fix is easy, don't use devres in this case. Found during my research about object lifetime problems.

HighCVSS 7.8 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available

Memory safety

BDU:2025-12787

Published: Oct 1, 2025
Updated: Nov 5, 2026
EPSS: 0.1% · 4th percentile
CWE: CWE-416

Report tools

JSON

Action score

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS: 31 / 40 · 7.8 / 10
CISA KEV: 0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS: 0 / 30 · 0.1%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation: none
Automatable: no
Technical impact: partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

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Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
No public exploit code on record
A fix has been released

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

Vendor	Product	CPE
linux	linux kernel	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

linux linux kernel4.15.1 and later · before 4.19.293
linux linux kernel4.20 and later · before 5.4.255
linux linux kernel5.5 and later · before 5.10.192
linux linux kernel5.11 and later · before 5.15.128
linux linux kernel5.16 and later · before 6.1.47
linux linux kernel6.2 and later · before 6.4.12
linux linux kernel4.15
linux linux kernel6.5

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (Linux). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

Linux Linux
- 4.15affected
- 7eb781b1bbb7136fe78fb8c28c1c223c61fa32b5 and later · before 97a2d55ead76358245b446efd87818e919196d7aaffected · git
- 7eb781b1bbb7136fe78fb8c28c1c223c61fa32b5 and later · before b788ad3b2468512339c05f23692e36860264e674affected · git
- 7eb781b1bbb7136fe78fb8c28c1c223c61fa32b5 and later · before 3ff54d904fafabd0912796785e53cce4e69ca123affected · git
- 7eb781b1bbb7136fe78fb8c28c1c223c61fa32b5 and later · before 5b7d5c2dd664eb8b9a06ecbc06e28d39359c422eaffected · git
- 7eb781b1bbb7136fe78fb8c28c1c223c61fa32b5 and later · before af5818c35173e096085c6ae2e3aac605d3d15e41affected · git
- 7eb781b1bbb7136fe78fb8c28c1c223c61fa32b5 and later · before 2dcb368fe5a8eee498ca75c93a18ce2f3b0d6a8eaffected · git
- 7eb781b1bbb7136fe78fb8c28c1c223c61fa32b5 and later · before 55c91fedd03d7b9cf0c5199b2eb12b9b8e95281aaffected · git
- before 4.15not affected · semver
- 4.19.293 and later · up to and including 4.19.*not affected · semver

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

Ecosystem	Package	Affected range	Fix
Debian:12	linux	before 6.1.52-1	6.1.52-1
Debian:13	linux	before 6.4.13-1	6.4.13-1

Same product

linux: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

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CVE-2022-0847A flaw was found in the way the "flags" member of the new pipe buffer structure was lacking proper initialization in copy_page_to_iter_pipe KEV
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CVE-2021-22555Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACEKEV
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Published before and after this one in the same product

← EarlierCVE-2023-53512Oct 1, 2025 · scsi: mpt3sas: Fix a memory leak
22Monitor
← EarlierCVE-2023-53514Oct 1, 2025 · gpu: host1x: Fix memory leak of device names
22Monitor
Later →CVE-2023-53516Oct 1, 2025 · macvlan: add forgotten nla_policy for IFLA_MACVLAN_BC_CUTOFF
31Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / package	Fixed version	Source
Linux Linux	2dcb368fe5a8eee498ca75c93a18ce2f3b0d6a8e	Vendor (CNA)
Linux Linux	3ff54d904fafabd0912796785e53cce4e69ca123	Vendor (CNA)
Linux Linux	55c91fedd03d7b9cf0c5199b2eb12b9b8e95281a	Vendor (CNA)
Linux Linux	5b7d5c2dd664eb8b9a06ecbc06e28d39359c422e	Vendor (CNA)
Linux Linux	97a2d55ead76358245b446efd87818e919196d7a	Vendor (CNA)
Linux Linux	af5818c35173e096085c6ae2e3aac605d3d15e41	Vendor (CNA)
Linux Linux	b788ad3b2468512339c05f23692e36860264e674	Vendor (CNA)
debian:linux	6.1.52-1 · Debian:12	Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

No history yet (it accumulates with the daily EPSS job).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
A low-privileged account is enough.
No user action is required.
No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality: high · data can be read
Integrity: high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability: high · the service can be disrupted

Attack vector: Local
Attack complexity: Low
Privileges required: Low
User interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality impact: High
Integrity impact: High
Availability impact: High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-416 · Use After Free

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

nvd-primary

Root cause

After a memory region is freed, another reference pointing to it is still used. By then, the same region may have been allocated for different data.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-416 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

1free(dev->buf);
2/* ... another thread is still running ... */
3process(dev->buf);

Fixed

1lock(&dev->lock);
2free(dev->buf);
3dev->buf = NULL;
4unlock(&dev->lock);

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.

Change log

SSVC exploitation— → noneNov 5, 2026, 10:07 PM UTC
Fix✗ → ✓Sep 28, 2026, 10:10 PM UTC

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

git.kernel.org/stable/c/2dcb368fe5a8eee498ca75c93a18ce2f3b0d6a8e

Show all references (6 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

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