# CVE-2023-53854: ASoC: mediatek: mt8186: Fix use-after-free in driver remove path

> A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's MediaTek audio driver allows local attackers to potentially execute code or escalate privileges.

- **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:** 9 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53854, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53854, GHSA-8mp2-mjh9-w6fj, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53854

## What is CVE-2023-53854?

CVE-2023-53854 is an use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 9 Dec 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:

ASoC: mediatek: mt8186: Fix use-after-free in driver remove path

When devm runs function in the "remove" path for a device it runs them
in the reverse order. That means that if you have parts of your driver
that aren't using devm or are using "roll your own" devm w/
devm_add_action_or_reset() you need to keep that in mind.

The mt8186 audio driver didn't quite get this right. Specifically, in
mt8186_init_clock() it called mt8186_audsys_clk_register() and then
went on to call a bunch of other devm function. The caller of
mt8186_init_clock() used devm_add_action_or_reset() to call
mt8186_deinit_clock() but, because of the intervening devm functions,
the order was wrong.

Specifically at probe time, the order was:
1. mt8186_audsys_clk_register()
2. afe_priv->clk = devm_kcalloc(...)
3. afe_priv->clk[i] = devm_clk_get(...)

At remove time, the order (which should have been 3, 2, 1) was:
1. mt8186_audsys_clk_unregister()
3. Free all of afe_priv->clk[i]
2. Free afe_priv->clk

The above seemed to be causing a use-after-free. Luckily, it's easy to
fix this by simply using devm more correctly. Let's move the
devm_add_action_or_reset() to the right place. In addition to fixing
the use-after-free, code inspection shows that this fixes a leak
(missing call to mt8186_audsys_clk_unregister()) that would have
happened if any of the syscon_regmap_lookup_by_phandle() calls in
mt8186_init_clock() had failed.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53854?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-53854?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53854 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53854 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-53854 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53854 is an use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 9 Dec 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-2023-53854 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-2023-53854/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53854/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53854
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53854
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53854

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53854/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.