# CVE-2023-53814: PCI: Fix dropping valid root bus resources with .end = zero

> A logic error in Linux kernel PCI resource handling causes memory leaks and potential denial of service by incorrectly skipping valid root bus resources.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Not stated
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 9 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53814, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53814, GHSA-3f48-8rf6-xmcq, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53814

## What is CVE-2023-53814?

CVE-2023-53814 is a memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 9 Dec 2025. 

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

PCI: Fix dropping valid root bus resources with .end = zero

On r8a7791/koelsch:

  kmemleak: 1 new suspected memory leaks (see /sys/kernel/debug/kmemleak)
  # cat /sys/kernel/debug/kmemleak
  unreferenced object 0xc3a34e00 (size 64):
    comm "swapper/0", pid 1, jiffies 4294937460 (age 199.080s)
    hex dump (first 32 bytes):
      b4 5d 81 f0 b4 5d 81 f0 c0 b0 a2 c3 00 00 00 00  .]...]..........
      00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  ................
    backtrace:
      [<fe3aa979>] __kmalloc+0xf0/0x140
      [<34bd6bc0>] resource_list_create_entry+0x18/0x38
      [<767046bc>] pci_add_resource_offset+0x20/0x68
      [<b3f3edf2>] devm_of_pci_get_host_bridge_resources.constprop.0+0xb0/0x390

When coalescing two resources for a contiguous aperture, the second
resource is enlarged to cover the full contiguous range, while the first
resource is marked invalid.  This invalidation is done by clearing the
flags, start, and end members.

When adding the initial resources to the bus later, invalid resources are
skipped.  Unfortunately, the check for an invalid resource considers only
the end member, causing false positives.

E.g. on r8a7791/koelsch, root bus resource 0 ("bus 00") is skipped, and no
longer registered with pci_bus_insert_busn_res() (causing the memory leak),
nor printed:

   pci-rcar-gen2 ee090000.pci: host bridge /soc/pci@ee090000 ranges:
   pci-rcar-gen2 ee090000.pci:      MEM 0x00ee080000..0x00ee08ffff -> 0x00ee080000
   pci-rcar-gen2 ee090000.pci: PCI: revision 11
   pci-rcar-gen2 ee090000.pci: PCI host bridge to bus 0000:00
  -pci_bus 0000:00: root bus resource [bus 00]
   pci_bus 0000:00: root bus resource [mem 0xee080000-0xee08ffff]

Fix this by only skipping resources where all of the flags, start, and end
members are zero.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53814?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-53814?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53814 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53814 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-53814 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53814 is a memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 9 Dec 2025. 
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53814 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-2023-53814/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53814/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53814
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53814
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53814

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53814/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.