CVE-2023-53278 ubifs: Fix memory leak in ubifs_sysfs_init()
A memory leak in the Linux kernel's UBIFS module can lead to resource exhaustion and denial of service when the module is loaded.
- 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
What is CVE-2023-53278?
CVE-2023-53278 is a medium-severity denial of service 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:
ubifs: Fix memory leak in ubifs_sysfs_init()
When insmod ubifs.ko, a kmemleak reported as below:
unreferenced object 0xffff88817fb1a780 (size 8): comm "insmod", pid 25265, jiffies 4295239702 (age 100.130s) hex dump (first 8 bytes): 75 62 69 66 73 00 ff ff ubifs... backtrace: [<ffffffff81b3fc4c>] slab_post_alloc_hook+0x9c/0x3c0 [<ffffffff81b44bf3>] __kmalloc_track_caller+0x183/0x410 [<ffffffff8198d3da>] kstrdup+0x3a/0x80 [<ffffffff8198d486>] kstrdup_const+0x66/0x80 [<ffffffff83989325>] kvasprintf_const+0x155/0x190 [<ffffffff83bf55bb>] kobject_set_name_vargs+0x5b/0x150 [<ffffffff83bf576b>] kobject_set_name+0xbb/0xf0 [<ffffffff8100204c>] do_one_initcall+0x14c/0x5a0 [<ffffffff8157e380>] do_init_module+0x1f0/0x660 [<ffffffff815857be>] load_module+0x6d7e/0x7590 [<ffffffff8158644f>] __do_sys_finit_module+0x19f/0x230 [<ffffffff815866b3>] __x64_sys_finit_module+0x73/0xb0 [<ffffffff88c98e85>] do_syscall_64+0x35/0x80 [<ffffffff88e00087>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd
When kset_register() failed, we should call kset_put to cleanup it.
Weakness: CWE-401
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53278?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2023-53278?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2023-53278 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53278 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2023-53278, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53278, GHSA-j48m-667v-9r7r, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53278.