# CVE-2023-53271: ubi: Fix unreferenced object reported by kmemleak in ubi_resize_volume()

> A memory leak in the Linux kernel UBI driver allows local attackers to exhaust system memory, potentially causing a 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:** 16 Sep 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53271, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53271, GHSA-8895-6f7g-6q4j, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53271

## What is CVE-2023-53271?

CVE-2023-53271 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 16 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:

ubi: Fix unreferenced object reported by kmemleak in ubi_resize_volume()

There is a memory leaks problem reported by kmemleak:

unreferenced object 0xffff888102007a00 (size 128):
  comm "ubirsvol", pid 32090, jiffies 4298464136 (age 2361.231s)
  hex dump (first 32 bytes):
ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff  ................
ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff  ................
  backtrace:
[<ffffffff8176cecd>] __kmalloc+0x4d/0x150
[<ffffffffa02a9a36>] ubi_eba_create_table+0x76/0x170 [ubi]
[<ffffffffa029764e>] ubi_resize_volume+0x1be/0xbc0 [ubi]
[<ffffffffa02a3321>] ubi_cdev_ioctl+0x701/0x1850 [ubi]
[<ffffffff81975d2d>] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x11d/0x170
[<ffffffff83c142a5>] do_syscall_64+0x35/0x80
[<ffffffff83e0006a>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0

This is due to a mismatch between create and destroy interfaces, and
in detail that "new_eba_tbl" created by ubi_eba_create_table() but
destroyed by kfree(), while will causing "new_eba_tbl->entries" not
freed.

Fix it by replacing kfree(new_eba_tbl) with
ubi_eba_destroy_table(new_eba_tbl)

Weakness: CWE-401 (Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53271?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53271?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53271 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53271 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-2023-53271 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53271 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 16 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-2023-53271 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-2023-53271/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53271/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53271
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53271
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53271

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53271/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.