# CVE-2023-52520: platform/x86: think-lmi: Fix reference leak

> A reference leak in the Linux kernel think-lmi driver can lead to resource exhaustion and denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 2 Mar 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-52520, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-52520, GHSA-w2cg-jcf6-hrgr, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-52520

## What is CVE-2023-52520?

CVE-2023-52520 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 2 Mar 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

platform/x86: think-lmi: Fix reference leak

If a duplicate attribute is found using kset_find_obj(), a reference
to that attribute is returned which needs to be disposed accordingly
using kobject_put(). Move the setting name validation into a separate
function to allow for this change without having to duplicate the
cleanup code for this setting.
As a side note, a very similar bug was fixed in
commit 7295a996fdab ("platform/x86: dell-sysman: Fix reference leak"),
so it seems that the bug was copied from that driver.

Compile-tested only.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-52520?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-52520?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-52520 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-52520 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-52520 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-52520 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 2 Mar 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-52520 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-52520/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-52520/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-52520
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-52520
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-52520

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-52520/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.