CVE-2023-53697 nvdimm: Fix memleak of pmu attr_groups in unregister_nvdimm_pmu()
A memory leak in the Linux kernel's nvdimm PMU unregister function can lead to resource exhaustion and denial of service.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2023-53697?
CVE-2023-53697 is a memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 22 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:
nvdimm: Fix memleak of pmu attr_groups in unregister_nvdimm_pmu()
Memory pointed by 'nd_pmu->pmu.attr_groups' is allocated in function 'register_nvdimm_pmu' and is lost after 'kfree(nd_pmu)' call in function 'unregister_nvdimm_pmu'.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53697?
How do I fix CVE-2023-53697?
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-2023-53697 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53697 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2023-53697, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53697, GHSA-xrjw-43g7-84q8, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53697.