CVE-2023-53298: nfc: fix memory leak of se_io context in nfc_genl_se_io

Severity: medium (CVSS 5.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.1% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2025-09-16 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-401

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nfc: fix memory leak of se_io context in nfc_genl_se_io The callback context for sending/receiving APDUs to/from the selected secure element is allocated inside nfc_genl_se_io and supposed to be eventually freed in se_io_cb callback function. However, there are several error paths where the bwi_timer is not charged to call se_io_cb later, and the cb_context is leaked. The patch proposes to free the cb_context explicitly on those error paths. At the moment we can't simply check 'dev->ops->se_io()' return value as it may be negative in both cases: when the timer was charged and was not.

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 3.13 before 4.14.308; from 4.15 before 4.19.276; from 4.20 before 5.4.235; from 5.5 before 5.10.173; from 5.11 before 5.15.100; from 5.16 before 6.1.18 — fixed in 4.14.308, 4.19.276, 5.10.173, 5.15.100, 5.4.235, 6.1.18

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 4.14.308, 4.19.276, 5.10.173, 5.15.100. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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