What is CVE-2023-53428?

CVE-2023-53428 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, classified as a Uncontrolled Recursion flaw (CWE-674), affecting Linux kernel versions from 6.2 onward and patched in 6.4.16, 6.5.3 and 6.6. CVE-2023-53428 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2023-53428?

CVE-2023-53428 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-2023-53428?

Yes, CVE-2023-53428 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.4.16, 6.5.3 and 6.6. If you are running Linux kernel 6.2 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2023-53428 actively exploited?

CVE-2023-53428 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is Uncontrolled Recursion (CWE-674)?

The product does not properly control the amount of recursion which triggers resource consumption. See MITRE CWE for full details: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/674.html

CVE-2023-53428

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: powercap: arm_scmi: Remove recursion while parsing zones Powercap zones can be defined as arranged in a hierarchy of trees and when registering a zone with powercap_register_zone(), the kernel powercap subsystem expects this to happen starting from the root zones down to the leaves; on the other side, de-registration by powercap_deregister_zone() must begin from the leaf zones. Available SCMI powercap zones are retrieved dynamically from the platform at probe time and, while any defined hierarchy between the zones is described properly in the zones descriptor, the platform returns the availables zones with no particular well-defined order: as a consequence, the trees possibly composing the hierarchy of zones have to be somehow walked properly to register the retrieved zones from the root. Currently the ARM SCMI Powercap driver walks the zones using a recursive algorithm; this approach, even though correct and tested can lead to kernel stack overflow when processing a returned hierarchy of zones composed by particularly high trees. Avoid possible kernel stack overflow by substituting the recursive approach with an iterative one supported by a dynamically allocated stack-like data structure.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2025-09-18

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-674

CVE-2023-53428 is a Uncontrolled Recursion vulnerability

What is Uncontrolled Recursion?

The product does not properly control the amount of recursion which triggers resource consumption. Learn more on MITRE CWE

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 6.2 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.4.16, 6.5.3, 6.6 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 6.2

Fixed in

✓ 6.4.16 6.4.x ✓ 6.5.3 6.5.x ✓ 6.6

References

3 total

Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3e767d6850f867cc33ac16ca097350a1d2417982

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8022b64fb7daa6135d9f7b0e2f7b5b8e9e5179c9

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b427c23cebc5c926516f20304bf1acc05a33d147

Patch

Details

CVE ID CVE-2023-53428

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2025-09-18

Modified 2026-01-14

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-53428?

CVE-2023-53428 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 , classified as an Uncontrolled Recursion flaw (CWE-674) . It affects Linux kernel versions from 6.2 onward and has been patched in 6.4.16, 6.5.3 and 6.6. CVE-2023-53428 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2023-53428?

CVE-2023-53428 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-2023-53428?

Yes. CVE-2023-53428 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.4.16, 6.5.3 and 6.6. If you are running Linux kernel 6.2 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2023-53428 actively exploited?

No. CVE-2023-53428 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.