CVE-2023-53715 wifi: brcmfmac: cfg80211: Pass the PMK in binary instead of hex
A vulnerability in the Linux kernel brcmfmac WiFi driver leaks uninitialized stack contents to the device, potentially exposing sensitive memory data.
- 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-2023-53715?
CVE-2023-53715 is a 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:
wifi: brcmfmac: cfg80211: Pass the PMK in binary instead of hex
Apparently the hex passphrase mechanism does not work on newer chips/firmware (e.g. BCM4387). It seems there was a simple way of passing it in binary all along, so use that and avoid the hexification.
OpenBSD has been doing it like this from the beginning, so this should work on all chips.
Also clear the structure before setting the PMK. This was leaking uninitialized stack contents to the device.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53715?
How do I fix CVE-2023-53715?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2023-53715 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53715 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2023-53715, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53715, GHSA-rw22-c852-p7j5, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53715.