# CVE-2023-53388: drm/mediatek: Clean dangling pointer on bind error path

> A dangling pointer in the MediaTek DRM driver can cause a kernel panic during suspend if the bind operation fails, leading to denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 18 Sep 2025
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53388, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53388, GHSA-jj38-96h8-c9q4, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53388

## What is CVE-2023-53388?

CVE-2023-53388 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 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:

drm/mediatek: Clean dangling pointer on bind error path

mtk_drm_bind() can fail, in which case drm_dev_put() is called,
destroying the drm_device object. However a pointer to it was still
being held in the private object, and that pointer would be passed along
to DRM in mtk_drm_sys_prepare() if a suspend were triggered at that
point, resulting in a panic. Clean the pointer when destroying the
object in the error path to prevent this from happening.

Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53388?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53388?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53388 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53388 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-2023-53388 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53388 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 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-2023-53388 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-2023-53388/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53388/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53388
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53388
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53388

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53388/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.