What is CVE-2023-53518?

CVE-2023-53518 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 4.7 onward and patched in 4.14.326, 4.19.295, 5.4.257 and others. CVE-2023-53518 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2023-53518?

CVE-2023-53518 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-2023-53518?

Yes, CVE-2023-53518 has been patched. Fixed versions include 4.14.326, 4.19.295, 5.4.257 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 4.7 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2023-53518 actively exploited?

CVE-2023-53518 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-2023-53518

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: PM / devfreq: Fix leak in devfreq_dev_release() srcu_init_notifier_head() allocates resources that need to be released with a srcu_cleanup_notifier_head() call. Reported by kmemleak.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2025-10-01

Last modified 2026-01-23

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-2023-53518 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 4.7 and later are affected. Fixed in 4.14.326, 4.19.295, 5.4.257, 5.10.195, 5.15.132, 6.1.53, 6.4.16, 6.5.3, 6.6 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 4.7

Fixed in

✓ 4.14.326 4.14.x ✓ 4.19.295 4.19.x ✓ 5.4.257 5.4.x ✓ 5.10.195 5.10.x ✓ 5.15.132 5.15.x ✓ 6.1.53 6.1.x ✓ 6.4.16 6.4.x ✓ 6.5.3 6.5.x ✓ 6.6

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2023-53518 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/111bafa210ae546bee7644be730c42df9c35b66e
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1640e9c72173911ad0fddb05012c01eafe082c4e
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/29811f4b8255d4238cf326f3bb7129784766beab
Patch

9 patch commits total View all on NVD

Details

CVE ID CVE-2023-53518

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2025-10-01

Modified 2026-01-23

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-53518?

CVE-2023-53518 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 4.7 onward and has been patched in 4.14.326, 4.19.295, 5.4.257 and others. CVE-2023-53518 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2023-53518?

CVE-2023-53518 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-2023-53518?

Yes — CVE-2023-53518 has been patched. Fixed versions include 4.14.326, 4.19.295, 5.4.257 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 4.7 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2023-53518 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2023-53518 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.
What is Memory Leak (CWE-401)?

The product does not release memory after use, causing gradual resource exhaustion. View CWE-401 on MITRE CWE →