CVE-2023-53514 gpu: host1x: Fix memory leak of device names
A memory leak in the Linux kernel host1x driver can lead to resource exhaustion and denial of service during module unloading.
- 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-2023-53514?
CVE-2023-53514 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 Oct 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:
gpu: host1x: Fix memory leak of device names
The device names allocated by dev_set_name() need be freed before module unloading, but they can not be freed because the kobject's refcount which was set in device_initialize() has not be decreased to 0.
As comment of device_add() says, if it fails, use only put_device() drop the refcount, then the name will be freed in kobejct_cleanup().
device_del() and put_device() can be replaced with device_unregister(), so call it to unregister the added successfully devices, and just call put_device() to the not added device.
Add a release() function to device to avoid null release() function WARNING in device_release(), it's empty, because the context devices are freed together in host1x_memory_context_list_free().
Weakness: CWE-401
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53514?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2023-53514?
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-2023-53514 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53514 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2023-53514, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53514, GHSA-8gw4-3w27-23g9, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53514.