CVE-2023-53234 [Medium] | Information Disclosure in Linux Kernel

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: watchdog: Fix kmemleak in watchdog_cdev_register kmemleak reports memory leaks in watchdog_dev_register, as follows: unreferenced object 0xffff888116233000 (size 2048): comm ""modprobe"", pid 28147, jiffies 4353426116 (age 61.741s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 80 fa b9 05 81 88 ff ff 08 30 23 16 81 88 ff ff .........0#..... 08 30 23 16 81 88 ff ff 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 .0#............. backtrace: [<000000007f001ffd>] __kmem_cache_alloc_node+0x157/0x220 [<000000006a389304>] kmalloc_trace+0x21/0x110 [<000000008d640eea>] watchdog_dev_register+0x4e/0x780 [watchdog] [<0000000053c9f248>] __watchdog_register_device+0x4f0/0x680 [watchdog] [<00000000b2979824>] watchdog_register_device+0xd2/0x110 [watchdog] [<000000001f730178>] 0xffffffffc10880ae [<000000007a1a8bcc>] do_one_initcall+0xcb/0x4d0 [<00000000b98be325>] do_init_module+0x1ca/0x5f0 [<0000000046d08e7c>] load_module+0x6133/0x70f0 ... unreferenced object 0xffff888105b9fa80 (size 16): comm ""modprobe"", pid 28147, jiffies 4353426116 (age 61.741s) hex dump (first 16 bytes): 77 61 74 63 68 64 6f 67 31 00 b9 05 81 88 ff ff watchdog1....... backtrace: [<000000007f001ffd>] __kmem_cache_alloc_node+0x157/0x220 [<00000000486ab89b>] __kmalloc_node_track_caller+0x44/0x1b0 [<000000005a39aab0>] kvasprintf+0xb5/0x140 [<0000000024806f85>] kvasprintf_const+0x55/0x180 [<000000009276cb7f>] kobject_set_name_vargs+0x56/0x150 [<00000000a92e820b>] dev_set_name+0xab/0xe0 [<00000000cec812c6>] watchdog_dev_register+0x285/0x780 [watchdog] [<0000000053c9f248>] __watchdog_register_device+0x4f0/0x680 [watchdog] [<00000000b2979824>] watchdog_register_device+0xd2/0x110 [watchdog] [<000000001f730178>] 0xffffffffc10880ae [<000000007a1a8bcc>] do_one_initcall+0xcb/0x4d0 [<00000000b98be325>] do_init_module+0x1ca/0x5f0 [<0000000046d08e7c>] load_module+0x6133/0x70f0 ... The reason is that put_device is not be called if cdev_device_add fails and wdd->id != 0. watchdog_cdev_register wd_data = kzalloc [1] err = dev_set_name [2] .. err = cdev_device_add if (err) { if (wdd->id == 0) { // wdd->id != 0 .. } return err; // [1],[2] would be leaked To fix it, call put_device in all wdd->id cases.

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2025-09-16	—	0.03%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2025-09-16

—

0.03%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
5.5	3.1	MEDIUM	`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:L) They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by. Attack complexity (AC:L) Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup. Privileges required (PR:L) A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin. User interaction (UI:N) Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping. Scope (S:U) Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems. Confidentiality (C:N) Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way. Integrity (I:N) Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.	1.8	3.6	[email protected]
5.5	3.1	MEDIUM	`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:L) They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by. Attack complexity (AC:L) Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup. Privileges required (PR:L) A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin. User interaction (UI:N) Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping. Scope (S:U) Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems. Confidentiality (C:N) Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way. Integrity (I:N) Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.	1.8	3.6	134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

5.5

3.1

MEDIUM

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

Attack vector (AV:L): They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L): Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L): A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N): Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U): Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N): Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N): Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H): Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

1.8

3.6

[email protected]

5.5

3.1

MEDIUM

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

Attack vector (AV:L): They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L): Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L): A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N): Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U): Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N): Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N): Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H): Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

1.8

3.6

134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-53234

vendor	priority	summary	link
`debian`	not yet assigned	CVE-2023-53234 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5.	https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-53234
`redhat`	low	—	https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53234
`suse`	medium	—	https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53234/
`ubuntu`	medium	CVE-2023-53234 medium priority: Ubuntu including 158 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1414 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1017, ignored 159, released 138, not-affected 84, needed 15, needs-triage 1.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-53234

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-53234

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
linux	linux_kernel	>= 4.9.225, < 4.10	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 4.14.182, < 4.14.308	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 4.19.93, < 4.19.276	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 5.4.8, < 5.4.235	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 5.5, < 5.10.173	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 5.11, < 5.15.100	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 5.16, < 6.1.18	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 6.2, < 6.2.5	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::

References for CVE-2023-53234

URL	Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/13721a2ac66b246f5802ba1b75ad8637e53eeecc	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/23cc41c3f19c4d858c3708f1c0a06e94958e6c3b	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/50808d034e199fe3ff7a9d2068a4eebeb6b4098a	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/59e391b3fc507a15b7e8e9d9f4de87cae177c366	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8c1655600f4f2839fb844fe8c70b2b65fadc7a56	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ac099d94e0480c937aa9172ab64074981ca1a4d3	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bf26b0e430ce34261f45959989edaf680b64d538	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c5a21a5501508ae3afa2fe6d5a3e74a37fa48df3	Patch

URL

CVE-2023-53234 | watchdog: Fix kmemleak in watchdog_cdev_register

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-53234

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-53234

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-53234

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-53234

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-53234

References for CVE-2023-53234