# CVE-2023-53199: wifi: ath9k: hif_usb: clean up skbs if ath9k_hif_usb_rx_stream() fails

> A memory leak in the ath9k USB WiFi driver allows attackers to cause a denial of service by triggering packet processing failures.

- **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-2023-53199, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53199, GHSA-7774-rxjc-cwmm, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53199

## What is CVE-2023-53199?

CVE-2023-53199 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:

wifi: ath9k: hif_usb: clean up skbs if ath9k_hif_usb_rx_stream() fails

Syzkaller detected a memory leak of skbs in ath9k_hif_usb_rx_stream().
While processing skbs in ath9k_hif_usb_rx_stream(), the already allocated
skbs in skb_pool are not freed if ath9k_hif_usb_rx_stream() fails. If we
have an incorrect pkt_len or pkt_tag, the input skb is considered invalid
and dropped. All the associated packets already in skb_pool should be
dropped and freed. Added a comment describing this issue.

The patch also makes remain_skb NULL after being processed so that it
cannot be referenced after potential free. The initialization of hif_dev
fields which are associated with remain_skb (rx_remain_len,
rx_transfer_len and rx_pad_len) is moved after a new remain_skb is
allocated.

Found by Linux Verification Center (linuxtesting.org) with Syzkaller.

Weakness: CWE-772 (Missing Release of Resource after Effective Lifetime)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53199?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53199?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53199 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53199 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-2023-53199 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53199 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-2023-53199 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-2023-53199/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53199/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53199
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53199
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53199

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53199/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.