What is CVE-2023-53298?

CVE-2023-53298 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, classified as a Memory Leak flaw (CWE-401), affecting Linux kernel versions from 3.13 onward and patched in 4.14.308, 4.19.276, 5.4.235 and others. CVE-2023-53298 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2023-53298?

CVE-2023-53298 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity. The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2023-53298?

Yes, CVE-2023-53298 has been patched. Fixed versions include 4.14.308, 4.19.276, 5.4.235 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 3.13 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2023-53298 actively exploited?

CVE-2023-53298 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is Memory Leak (CWE-401)?

The product does not release memory after use, causing gradual resource exhaustion. See MITRE CWE for full details: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/401.html

CVE-2023-53298

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nfc: fix memory leak of se_io context in nfc_genl_se_io The callback context for sending/receiving APDUs to/from the selected secure element is allocated inside nfc_genl_se_io and supposed to be eventually freed in se_io_cb callback function. However, there are several error paths where the bwi_timer is not charged to call se_io_cb later, and the cb_context is leaked. The patch proposes to free the cb_context explicitly on those error paths. At the moment we can't simply check 'dev->ops->se_io()' return value as it may be negative in both cases: when the timer was charged and was not.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2025-09-16

Last modified 2026-01-14

CVSS version 3.1

Patch available

Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

5.5

out of 10

Medium

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Vector string

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Weakness type

CWE-401

CVE-2023-53298 is a Memory Leak vulnerability

What is Memory Leak?

The product does not release memory after use, causing gradual resource exhaustion. Learn more on MITRE CWE

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 3.13 and later are affected. Fixed in 4.14.308, 4.19.276, 5.4.235, 5.10.173, 5.15.100, 6.1.18, 6.2.5, 6.3 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 3.13

Fixed in

✓ 4.14.308 4.14.x ✓ 4.19.276 4.19.x ✓ 5.4.235 5.4.x ✓ 5.10.173 5.10.x ✓ 5.15.100 5.15.x ✓ 6.1.18 6.1.x ✓ 6.2.5 6.2.x ✓ 6.3

References

8 total

Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/25ff6f8a5a3b8dc48e8abda6f013e8cc4b14ffea

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/271eed1736426103335c5aac50f15b0f4d236bc0

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5321da6d84b87a34eea441677d649c34bd854169

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8978315cb4bf8878c9c8ec05dafd8f7ff539860d

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/af452e35b9e6a87cd49e54a7a3d60d934b194651

Patch

Showing 5 of 8 references View all on NVD

Details

CVE ID CVE-2023-53298

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2025-09-16

Modified 2026-01-14

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-53298?

CVE-2023-53298 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 , classified as a Memory Leak flaw (CWE-401) . It affects Linux kernel versions from 3.13 onward and has been patched in 4.14.308, 4.19.276, 5.4.235 and others. CVE-2023-53298 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2023-53298?

CVE-2023-53298 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2023-53298?

Yes. CVE-2023-53298 has been patched. Fixed versions include 4.14.308, 4.19.276, 5.4.235 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 3.13 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2023-53298 actively exploited?

No. CVE-2023-53298 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.