# CVE-2023-53213: wifi: brcmfmac: slab-out-of-bounds read in brcmf_get_assoc_ies()

> A slab-out-of-bounds read in the Linux kernel brcmfmac Wi-Fi driver allows attackers to cause denial of service or disclose memory via crafted USB data.

- **Severity:** High 8.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 15 Sep 2025
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53213, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53213, GHSA-fq2q-2mv8-c2mg, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53213

## What is CVE-2023-53213?

CVE-2023-53213 is a high-severity memory corruption 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: brcmfmac: slab-out-of-bounds read in brcmf_get_assoc_ies()

Fix a slab-out-of-bounds read that occurs in kmemdup() called from
brcmf_get_assoc_ies().
The bug could occur when assoc_info->req_len, data from a URB provided
by a USB device, is bigger than the size of buffer which is defined as
WL_EXTRA_BUF_MAX.

Add the size check for req_len/resp_len of assoc_info.

Found by a modified version of syzkaller.

[   46.592467][    T7] ==================================================================
[   46.594687][    T7] BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in kmemdup+0x3e/0x50
[   46.596572][    T7] Read of size 3014656 at addr ffff888019442000 by task kworker/0:1/7
[   46.598575][    T7]
[   46.599157][    T7] CPU: 0 PID: 7 Comm: kworker/0:1 Tainted: G           O      5.14.0+ #145
[   46.601333][    T7] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.12.1-0-ga5cab58e9a3f-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014
[   46.604360][    T7] Workqueue: events brcmf_fweh_event_worker
[   46.605943][    T7] Call Trace:
[   46.606584][    T7]  dump_stack_lvl+0x8e/0xd1
[   46.607446][    T7]  print_address_description.constprop.0.cold+0x93/0x334
[   46.608610][    T7]  ? kmemdup+0x3e/0x50
[   46.609341][    T7]  kasan_report.cold+0x79/0xd5
[   46.610151][    T7]  ? kmemdup+0x3e/0x50
[   46.610796][    T7]  kasan_check_range+0x14e/0x1b0
[   46.611691][    T7]  memcpy+0x20/0x60
[   46.612323][    T7]  kmemdup+0x3e/0x50
[   46.612987][    T7]  brcmf_get_assoc_ies+0x967/0xf60
[   46.613904][    T7]  ? brcmf_notify_vif_event+0x3d0/0x3d0
[   46.614831][    T7]  ? lock_chain_count+0x20/0x20
[   46.615683][    T7]  ? mark_lock.part.0+0xfc/0x2770
[   46.616552][    T7]  ? lock_chain_count+0x20/0x20
[   46.617409][    T7]  ? mark_lock.part.0+0xfc/0x2770
[   46.618244][    T7]  ? lock_chain_count+0x20/0x20
[   46.619024][    T7]  brcmf_bss_connect_done.constprop.0+0x241/0x2e0
[   46.620019][    T7]  ? brcmf_parse_configure_security.isra.0+0x2a0/0x2a0
[   46.620818][    T7]  ? __lock_acquire+0x181f/0x5790
[   46.621462][    T7]  brcmf_notify_connect_status+0x448/0x1950
[   46.622134][    T7]  ? rcu_read_lock_bh_held+0xb0/0xb0
[   46.622736][    T7]  ? brcmf_cfg80211_join_ibss+0x7b0/0x7b0
[   46.623390][    T7]  ? find_held_lock+0x2d/0x110
[   46.623962][    T7]  ? brcmf_fweh_event_worker+0x19f/0xc60
[   46.624603][    T7]  ? mark_held_locks+0x9f/0xe0
[   46.625145][    T7]  ? lockdep_hardirqs_on_prepare+0x3e0/0x3e0
[   46.625871][    T7]  ? brcmf_cfg80211_join_ibss+0x7b0/0x7b0
[   46.626545][    T7]  brcmf_fweh_call_event_handler.isra.0+0x90/0x100
[   46.627338][    T7]  brcmf_fweh_event_worker+0x557/0xc60
[   46.627962][    T7]  ? brcmf_fweh_call_event_handler.isra.0+0x100/0x100
[   46.628736][    T7]  ? rcu_read_lock_sched_held+0xa1/0xd0
[   46.629396][    T7]  ? rcu_read_lock_bh_held+0xb0/0xb0
[   46.629970][    T7]  ? lockdep_hardirqs_on_prepare+0x273/0x3e0
[   46.630649][    T7]  process_one_work+0x92b/0x1460
[   46.631205][    T7]  ? pwq_dec_nr_in_flight+0x330/0x330
[   46.631821][    T7]  ? rwlock_bug.part.0+0x90/0x90
[   46.632347][    T7]  worker_thread+0x95/0xe00
[   46.632832][    T7]  ? __kthread_parkme+0x115/0x1e0
[   46.633393][    T7]  ? process_one_work+0x1460/0x1460
[   46.633957][    T7]  kthread+0x3a1/0x480
[   46.634369][    T7]  ? set_kthread_struct+0x120/0x120
[   46.634933][    T7]  ret_from_fork+0x1f/0x30
[   46.635431][    T7]
[   46.635687][    T7] Allocated by task 7:
[   46.636151][    T7]  kasan_save_stack+0x1b/0x40
[   46.636628][    T7]  __kasan_kmalloc+0x7c/0x90
[   46.637108][    T7]  kmem_cache_alloc_trace+0x19e/0x330
[   46.637696][    T7]  brcmf_cfg80211_attach+0x4a0/0x4040
[   46.638275][    T7]  brcmf_attach+0x389/0xd40
[   46.638739][    T7]  brcmf_usb_probe+0x12de/0x1690
[   46.639279][    T7]  usb_probe_interface+0x2aa/0x760
[   46.639820][    T7]  really_probe+0x205/0xb70
[   46.640342][    T7]  __driver_probe_device+0
---truncated---

Weakness: CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53213?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53213?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53213 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53213 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-2023-53213 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53213 is a high-severity memory corruption 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-2023-53213 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-2023-53213/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53213/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53213
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53213
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53213

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53213/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.
