What’s Vulnerable › Vulnerabilities

CVE-2023-53346: kernel/fail_function: fix memory leak with using debugfs_lookup()

• 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: 2025-09-17 · updated 2026-06-17
• Weakness: CWE-401

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: kernel/fail_function: fix memory leak with using debugfs_lookup() When calling debugfs_lookup() the result must have dput() called on it, otherwise the memory will leak over time. To make things simpler, just call debugfs_lookup_and_remove() instead which handles all of the logic at once.

Affected products

• Linux kernel: 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; from 6.2 before 6.2.5 — fixed in 5.10.173, 5.15.100, 5.4.235, 6.1.18, 6.2.5

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 5.10.173, 5.15.100, 5.4.235, 6.1.18. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/29d53c4c5a6f6d2b93aaac95b65cb4c907faf2ff
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2bb3669f576559db273efe49e0e69f82450efbca
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/94f68f3e059c478e240f65fcb64746fe371295df
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bb99db06b8b6ce9351633fc61bec9919d8f6f52b
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dd9981a11d74ff2eb253bb5c459876f8bd3c6c36
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f6d3aee1c66358471275df9dddd480010f061b0e

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