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CVE-2023-53174: scsi: core: Fix possible memory leak if device_add() fails

• Severity: medium (CVSS 5.5 v3.1)
• Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
• EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
• Public exploit or detection template: none known
• Published: 2025-09-15 · updated 2026-06-17
• Weakness: CWE-401

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: scsi: core: Fix possible memory leak if device_add() fails If device_add() returns error, the name allocated by dev_set_name() needs be freed. As the comment of device_add() says, put_device() should be used to decrease the reference count in the error path. So fix this by calling put_device(), then the name can be freed in kobject_cleanp().

Affected products

• Linux kernel: from 2.6.26 before 4.14.323; from 4.15 before 4.19.292; from 4.20 before 5.4.254; from 5.5 before 5.10.191; from 5.11 before 5.15.127; from 5.16 before 6.1.46 — fixed in 4.14.323, 4.19.292, 5.10.191, 5.15.127, 5.4.254, 6.1.46

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 4.14.323, 4.19.292, 5.10.191, 5.15.127. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/04b5b5cb0136ce970333a9c6cec7e46adba1ea3a
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/06c5340858011aa1195aec43a776e3185fbf7f56
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/43c0e16d0c5ec59398b405f4c4aa5a076e656c3f
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/63956ad27a6882f01fea7c69e17823090f4c7b3f
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6bc7f4c8c27d526f968788b8a985896755b1df35
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/aa9a76d5ffdecd3b52ac333eb89361b0c9fe04e8
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b191ff1f075c4875f11271cbf0093e6e044a12aa
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e12fac07f61caac9c5b186d827658b3470787619

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