CVE-2023-53521 scsi: ses: Fix slab-out-of-bounds in ses_intf_remove()

High 7.1 Published 1 Oct 2025 Updated 11 May 2026

A slab-out-of-bounds read in the Linux kernel SES driver can cause a system crash when removing the module with zero components.

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-2023-53521?

CVE-2023-53521 is a high-severity memory corruption 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:

scsi: ses: Fix slab-out-of-bounds in ses_intf_remove()

A fix for:

BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in ses_intf_remove+0x23f/0x270 [ses] Read of size 8 at addr ffff88a10d32e5d8 by task rmmod/12013

When edev->components is zero, accessing edev->component[0] members is wrong.

Weakness: CWE-125

Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53521?

It affects 1 product.

Linux distribution packages (24)

`bpftool` Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::baseos	All versions	`0:4.18.0-193.144.1.el8_2`
`bpftool-debuginfo` Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::baseos	All versions	`0:4.18.0-193.144.1.el8_2`
`kernel` Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::baseos	All versions	`0:4.18.0-193.144.1.el8_2`
`kernel-abi-whitelists` Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::baseos	All versions	`0:4.18.0-193.144.1.el8_2`
`kernel-core` Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::baseos	All versions	`0:4.18.0-193.144.1.el8_2`
`kernel-debug` Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::baseos	All versions	`0:4.18.0-193.144.1.el8_2`
`kernel-debug-core` Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::baseos	All versions	`0:4.18.0-193.144.1.el8_2`
`kernel-debug-debuginfo` Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::baseos	All versions	`0:4.18.0-193.144.1.el8_2`
`kernel-debug-devel` Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::baseos	All versions	`0:4.18.0-193.144.1.el8_2`
`kernel-debug-modules` Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::baseos	All versions	`0:4.18.0-193.144.1.el8_2`
`kernel-debug-modules-extra` Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::baseos	All versions	`0:4.18.0-193.144.1.el8_2`
`kernel-debuginfo` Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::baseos	All versions	`0:4.18.0-193.144.1.el8_2`
`kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64` Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::baseos	All versions	`0:4.18.0-193.144.1.el8_2`
`kernel-devel` Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::baseos	All versions	`0:4.18.0-193.144.1.el8_2`
`kernel-doc` Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::baseos	All versions	`0:4.18.0-193.144.1.el8_2`
`kernel-modules` Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::baseos	All versions	`0:4.18.0-193.144.1.el8_2`
`kernel-modules-extra` Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::baseos	All versions	`0:4.18.0-193.144.1.el8_2`
`kernel-tools` Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::baseos	All versions	`0:4.18.0-193.144.1.el8_2`
`kernel-tools-debuginfo` Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::baseos	All versions	`0:4.18.0-193.144.1.el8_2`
`kernel-tools-libs` Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::baseos	All versions	`0:4.18.0-193.144.1.el8_2`
`perf` Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::baseos	All versions	`0:4.18.0-193.144.1.el8_2`
`perf-debuginfo` Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::baseos	All versions	`0:4.18.0-193.144.1.el8_2`
`python3-perf` Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::baseos	All versions	`0:4.18.0-193.144.1.el8_2`
`python3-perf-debuginfo` Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::baseos	All versions	`0:4.18.0-193.144.1.el8_2`

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2023-53521?

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-2023-53521 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53521 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as BELL-CVE-2023-53521, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53521, GHSA-wgq5-3g38-q2mr, RHBA-2025:0725, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53521.