CVE-2023-53570 | wifi: nl80211: fix integer overflow in nl80211_parse_mbssid_elems()

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: nl80211: fix integer overflow in nl80211_parse_mbssid_elems() nl80211_parse_mbssid_elems() uses a u8 variable num_elems to count the number of MBSSID elements in the nested netlink attribute attrs, which can lead to an integer overflow if a user of the nl80211 interface specifies 256 or more elements in the corresponding attribute in userspace. The integer overflow can lead to a heap buffer overflow as num_elems determines the size of the trailing array in elems, and this array is thereafter written to for each element in attrs. Note that this vulnerability only affects devices with the wiphy->mbssid_max_interfaces member set for the wireless physical device struct in the device driver, and can only be triggered by a process with CAP_NET_ADMIN capabilities. Fix this by checking for a maximum of 255 elements in attrs.

Published: 2025-10-04 Last update: 2026-03-21 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2023-53570 is rated Low Risk (32.2/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-53570

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2025-10-05 0.02%

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-53570

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-53570

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-53570

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2023-53570 unimportant 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-2023-53570
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53570
suse medium CVE-2023-53570 severity moderate: SUSE including 451 source package names (2.1.3-6.88:kernel-default-base-6.4.0-36.1.21.13, 2.1.3-7.105:kernel-rt-6.4.0-38.1, …), 917 product×package rows across 184 product lines (Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/base-os-container, Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/kvm-os-container, … (184 product lines)): Fixed 491, Known Affected 231, Known Not Affected 195. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53570/
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-53570 medium priority: Ubuntu including 150 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1350 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 969, ignored 159, not-affected 142, released 80. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-53570

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-53570

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.1.46 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.4.11 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-53570

cvelogic Threat Intelligence