CVE-2023-53670 nvme-core: fix dev_pm_qos memleak
A memory leak in the Linux kernel NVMe driver during error handling can lead to resource exhaustion and denial of service.
- 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-2023-53670?
CVE-2023-53670 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:
nvme-core: fix dev_pm_qos memleak
Call dev_pm_qos_hide_latency_tolerance() in the error unwind patch to avoid following kmemleak:-
blktests (master) # kmemleak-clear; ./check nvme/044; blktests (master) # kmemleak-scan ; kmemleak-show nvme/044 (Test bi-directional authentication) [passed] runtime 2.111s ... 2.124s unreferenced object 0xffff888110c46240 (size 96): comm "nvme", pid 33461, jiffies 4345365353 (age 75.586s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ backtrace: [<0000000069ac2cec>] kmalloc_trace+0x25/0x90 [<000000006acc66d5>] dev_pm_qos_update_user_latency_tolerance+0x6f/0x100 [<00000000cc376ea7>] nvme_init_ctrl+0x38e/0x410 [nvme_core] [<000000007df61b4b>] 0xffffffffc05e88b3 [<00000000d152b985>] 0xffffffffc05744cb [<00000000f04a4041>] vfs_write+0xc5/0x3c0 [<00000000f9491baf>] ksys_write+0x5f/0xe0 [<000000001c46513d>] do_syscall_64+0x3b/0x90 [<00000000ecf348fe>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x72/0xdc
Weakness: CWE-401
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53670?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2023-53670?
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-2023-53670 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53670 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2023-53670, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53670, GHSA-hjjv-g993-99j8, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53670.