# CVE-2023-53700: media: max9286: Fix memleak in max9286_v4l2_register()

> A memory leak in the Linux kernel max9286 driver allows local attackers to cause resource exhaustion and denial of service.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 22 Oct 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53700, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53700, GHSA-9vc2-g7hx-x44h, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53700

## What is CVE-2023-53700?

CVE-2023-53700 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:

media: max9286: Fix memleak in max9286_v4l2_register()

There is a kmemleak when testing the media/i2c/max9286.c with bpf mock
device:

kmemleak: 5 new suspected memory leaks (see /sys/kernel/debug/kmemleak)

unreferenced object 0xffff88810defc400 (size 256):
  comm "python3", pid 278, jiffies 4294737563 (age 31.978s)
  hex dump (first 32 bytes):
    28 06 a7 0a 81 88 ff ff 00 fe 22 12 81 88 ff ff  (.........".....
    10 c4 ef 0d 81 88 ff ff 10 c4 ef 0d 81 88 ff ff  ................
  backtrace:
    [<00000000191de6a7>] __kmalloc_node+0x44/0x1b0
    [<000000002f4912b7>] kvmalloc_node+0x34/0x180
    [<0000000057dc4cae>] v4l2_ctrl_new+0x325/0x10f0 [videodev]
    [<0000000026030272>] v4l2_ctrl_new_std+0x16f/0x210 [videodev]
    [<00000000f0d9ea2f>] max9286_probe+0x76e/0xbff [max9286]
    [<00000000ea8f6455>] i2c_device_probe+0x28d/0x680
    [<0000000087529af3>] really_probe+0x17c/0x3f0
    [<00000000b08be526>] __driver_probe_device+0xe3/0x170
    [<000000004382edea>] driver_probe_device+0x49/0x120
    [<000000007bde528a>] __device_attach_driver+0xf7/0x150
    [<000000009f9c6ab4>] bus_for_each_drv+0x114/0x180
    [<00000000c8aaf588>] __device_attach+0x1e5/0x2d0
    [<0000000041cc06b9>] bus_probe_device+0x126/0x140
    [<000000002309860d>] device_add+0x810/0x1130
    [<000000002827bf98>] i2c_new_client_device+0x359/0x4f0
    [<00000000593bdc85>] of_i2c_register_device+0xf1/0x110

max9286_v4l2_register() calls v4l2_ctrl_new_std(), but won't free the
created v412_ctrl when fwnode_graph_get_endpoint_by_id() failed, which
causes the memleak. Call v4l2_ctrl_handler_free() to free the v412_ctrl.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53700?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-53700?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53700 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53700 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-53700 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53700 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53700 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2023-53700/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53700/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53700
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53700
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53700

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53700/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.