What is CVE-2023-53602?

CVE-2023-53602 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 5.6 onward and patched in 6.1.42, 6.4.7 and 6.5. CVE-2023-53602 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2023-53602?

CVE-2023-53602 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-2023-53602?

Yes, CVE-2023-53602 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.1.42, 6.4.7 and 6.5. If you are running Linux kernel 5.6 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2023-53602 actively exploited?

CVE-2023-53602 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-2023-53602

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: ath11k: fix memory leak in WMI firmware stats Memory allocated for firmware pdev, vdev and beacon statistics are not released during rmmod. Fix it by calling ath11k_fw_stats_free() function before hardware unregister. While at it, avoid calling ath11k_fw_stats_free() while processing the firmware stats received in the WMI event because the local list is getting spliced and reinitialised and hence there are no elements in the list after splicing. Tested-on: QCN9074 hw1.0 PCI WLAN.HK.2.7.0.1-01744-QCAHKSWPL_SILICONZ-1

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2025-10-04

Last modified 2026-03-23

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-2023-53602 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 5.6 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.1.42, 6.4.7, 6.5 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 5.6

Fixed in

✓ 6.1.42 6.1.x ✓ 6.4.7 6.4.x ✓ 6.5

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2023-53602 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/55248d36beb79d3a61c9fb3122dc377fff523c89
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6aafa1c2d3e3fea2ebe84c018003f2a91722e607
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/86f9330a49d1464849482298dd34d361859183eb
Patch

Details

CVE ID CVE-2023-53602

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2025-10-04

Modified 2026-03-23

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-53602?

CVE-2023-53602 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 5.6 onward and has been patched in 6.1.42, 6.4.7 and 6.5. CVE-2023-53602 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2023-53602?

CVE-2023-53602 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-2023-53602?

Yes — CVE-2023-53602 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.1.42, 6.4.7 and 6.5. If you are running Linux kernel 5.6 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2023-53602 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2023-53602 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 →