# CVE-2023-53637: media: i2c: ov772x: Fix memleak in ov772x_probe() > A memory leak in the ov772x camera driver probe function can lead to resource exhaustion and denial of service. - **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:** 7 Oct 2025 - **Updated:** 11 May 2026 - **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53637, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53637, GHSA-9w73-69h2-5rjg, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53637 ## What is CVE-2023-53637? CVE-2023-53637 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 7 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: media: i2c: ov772x: Fix memleak in ov772x_probe() A memory leak was reported when testing ov772x with bpf mock device: AssertionError: unreferenced object 0xffff888109afa7a8 (size 8): comm "python3", pid 279, jiffies 4294805921 (age 20.681s) hex dump (first 8 bytes): 80 22 88 15 81 88 ff ff ."...... backtrace: [<000000009990b438>] __kmalloc_node+0x44/0x1b0 [<000000009e32f7d7>] kvmalloc_node+0x34/0x180 [<00000000faf48134>] v4l2_ctrl_handler_init_class+0x11d/0x180 [videodev] [<00000000da376937>] ov772x_probe+0x1c3/0x68c [ov772x] [<000000003f0d225e>] i2c_device_probe+0x28d/0x680 [<00000000e0b6db89>] really_probe+0x17c/0x3f0 [<000000001b19fcee>] __driver_probe_device+0xe3/0x170 [<0000000048370519>] driver_probe_device+0x49/0x120 [<000000005ead07a0>] __device_attach_driver+0xf7/0x150 [<0000000043f452b8>] bus_for_each_drv+0x114/0x180 [<00000000358e5596>] __device_attach+0x1e5/0x2d0 [<0000000043f83c5d>] bus_probe_device+0x126/0x140 [<00000000ee0f3046>] device_add+0x810/0x1130 [<00000000e0278184>] i2c_new_client_device+0x359/0x4f0 [<0000000070baf34f>] of_i2c_register_device+0xf1/0x110 [<00000000a9f2159d>] of_i2c_notify+0x100/0x160 unreferenced object 0xffff888119825c00 (size 256): comm "python3", pid 279, jiffies 4294805921 (age 20.681s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 00 b4 a5 17 81 88 ff ff 00 5e 82 19 81 88 ff ff .........^...... 10 5c 82 19 81 88 ff ff 10 5c 82 19 81 88 ff ff .\.......\...... backtrace: [<000000009990b438>] __kmalloc_node+0x44/0x1b0 [<000000009e32f7d7>] kvmalloc_node+0x34/0x180 [<0000000073d88e0b>] v4l2_ctrl_new.cold+0x19b/0x86f [videodev] [<00000000b1f576fb>] v4l2_ctrl_new_std+0x16f/0x210 [videodev] [<00000000caf7ac99>] ov772x_probe+0x1fa/0x68c [ov772x] [<000000003f0d225e>] i2c_device_probe+0x28d/0x680 [<00000000e0b6db89>] really_probe+0x17c/0x3f0 [<000000001b19fcee>] __driver_probe_device+0xe3/0x170 [<0000000048370519>] driver_probe_device+0x49/0x120 [<000000005ead07a0>] __device_attach_driver+0xf7/0x150 [<0000000043f452b8>] bus_for_each_drv+0x114/0x180 [<00000000358e5596>] __device_attach+0x1e5/0x2d0 [<0000000043f83c5d>] bus_probe_device+0x126/0x140 [<00000000ee0f3046>] device_add+0x810/0x1130 [<00000000e0278184>] i2c_new_client_device+0x359/0x4f0 [<0000000070baf34f>] of_i2c_register_device+0xf1/0x110 The reason is that if priv->hdl.error is set, ov772x_probe() jumps to the error_mutex_destroy without doing v4l2_ctrl_handler_free(), and all resources allocated in v4l2_ctrl_handler_init() and v4l2_ctrl_new_std() are leaked. Weakness: CWE-401 (Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53637? It affects 1 product. Products: Linux kernel. ## How do I fix CVE-2023-53637? Apply the vendor's patch. ## Is CVE-2023-53637 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53637 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-2023-53637 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2023-53637 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 7 Oct 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-2023-53637 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-2023-53637/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53637/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53637 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53637 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53637 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53637/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.