# CVE-2023-53190: vxlan: Fix memory leaks in error path > A memory leak in the Linux kernel VXLAN driver allows local attackers to exhaust system memory, causing 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:** 15 Sep 2025 - **Updated:** 11 May 2026 - **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53190, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53190, GHSA-62g8-53xp-7372, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53190 ## What is CVE-2023-53190? CVE-2023-53190 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 15 Sep 2025. 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: vxlan: Fix memory leaks in error path The memory allocated by vxlan_vnigroup_init() is not freed in the error path, leading to memory leaks [1]. Fix by calling vxlan_vnigroup_uninit() in the error path. The leaks can be reproduced by annotating gro_cells_init() with ALLOW_ERROR_INJECTION() and then running: # echo "100" > /sys/kernel/debug/fail_function/probability # echo "1" > /sys/kernel/debug/fail_function/times # echo "gro_cells_init" > /sys/kernel/debug/fail_function/inject # printf %#x -12 > /sys/kernel/debug/fail_function/gro_cells_init/retval # ip link add name vxlan0 type vxlan dstport 4789 external vnifilter RTNETLINK answers: Cannot allocate memory [1] unreferenced object 0xffff88810db84a00 (size 512): comm "ip", pid 330, jiffies 4295010045 (age 66.016s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): f8 d5 76 0e 81 88 ff ff 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 ..v............. 03 00 04 00 48 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 04 00 01 00 ....H........... backtrace: [] kmalloc_trace+0x2a/0x60 [] vxlan_vnigroup_init+0x4c/0x160 [] vxlan_init+0x1ae/0x280 [] register_netdevice+0x57a/0x16d0 [] __vxlan_dev_create+0x7c7/0xa50 [] vxlan_newlink+0xd6/0x130 [] __rtnl_newlink+0x112b/0x18a0 [] rtnl_newlink+0x6c/0xa0 [] rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x43f/0xd40 [] netlink_rcv_skb+0x170/0x440 [] netlink_unicast+0x53f/0x810 [] netlink_sendmsg+0x958/0xe70 [] ____sys_sendmsg+0x78f/0xa90 [] ___sys_sendmsg+0x13a/0x1e0 [] __sys_sendmsg+0x11c/0x1f0 [] do_syscall_64+0x38/0x80 unreferenced object 0xffff88810e76d5f8 (size 192): comm "ip", pid 330, jiffies 4295010045 (age 66.016s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 04 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 db e1 4f e7 00 00 00 00 ..........O..... 08 d6 76 0e 81 88 ff ff 08 d6 76 0e 81 88 ff ff ..v.......v..... backtrace: [] __kmalloc_node+0x4e/0x90 [] kvmalloc_node+0xa6/0x1f0 [] bucket_table_alloc.isra.0+0x83/0x460 [] rhashtable_init+0x43b/0x7c0 [] vxlan_vnigroup_init+0x6c/0x160 [] vxlan_init+0x1ae/0x280 [] register_netdevice+0x57a/0x16d0 [] __vxlan_dev_create+0x7c7/0xa50 [] vxlan_newlink+0xd6/0x130 [] __rtnl_newlink+0x112b/0x18a0 [] rtnl_newlink+0x6c/0xa0 [] rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x43f/0xd40 [] netlink_rcv_skb+0x170/0x440 [] netlink_unicast+0x53f/0x810 [] netlink_sendmsg+0x958/0xe70 [] ____sys_sendmsg+0x78f/0xa90 Weakness: CWE-401 (Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53190? It affects 1 product. Products: Linux kernel. ## How do I fix CVE-2023-53190? Apply the vendor's patch. ## Is CVE-2023-53190 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53190 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-2023-53190 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2023-53190 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 15 Sep 2025. 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-2023-53190 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-2023-53190/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53190/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53190 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53190 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53190 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53190/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.