CVE-2023-53303 net: microchip: vcap api: Fix possible memory leak for vcap_dup_rule()
A memory leak in the Linux kernel's Microchip VCAP API can lead to resource exhaustion and denial of service when specific test configurations are enabled.
- 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-2023-53303?
CVE-2023-53303 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:
net: microchip: vcap api: Fix possible memory leak for vcap_dup_rule()
Inject fault When select CONFIG_VCAP_KUNIT_TEST, the below memory leak occurs. If kzalloc() for duprule succeeds, but the following kmemdup() fails, the duprule, ckf and caf memory will be leaked. So kfree them in the error path.
unreferenced object 0xffff122744c50600 (size 192): comm "kunit_try_catch", pid 346, jiffies 4294896122 (age 911.812s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 10 27 00 00 04 00 00 00 1e 00 00 00 2c 01 00 00 .'..........,... 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 18 06 c5 44 27 12 ff ff ...........D'... backtrace: [<00000000394b0db8>] __kmem_cache_alloc_node+0x274/0x2f8 [<0000000001bedc67>] kmalloc_trace+0x38/0x88 [<00000000b0612f98>] vcap_dup_rule+0x50/0x460 [<000000005d2d3aca>] vcap_add_rule+0x8cc/0x1038 [<00000000eef9d0f8>] test_vcap_xn_rule_creator.constprop.0.isra.0+0x238/0x494 [<00000000cbda607b>] vcap_api_rule_remove_in_front_test+0x1ac/0x698 [<00000000c8766299>] kunit_try_run_case+0xe0/0x20c [<00000000c4fe9186>] kunit_generic_run_threadfn_adapter+0x50/0x94 [<00000000f6864acf>] kthread+0x2e8/0x374 [<0000000022e639b3>] ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20
Weakness: CWE-401
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53303?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2023-53303?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.
Is CVE-2023-53303 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53303 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2023-53303, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53303, GHSA-7vg2-vv5h-q272, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53303.