CVE-2023-53696
BaseFortify
Publication date: 2025-10-22
Last updated on: 2025-10-22
Assigner: kernel.org
Description
Description
CVSS Scores
EPSS Scores
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Meta Information
Affected Vendors & Products
| Vendor | Product | Version / Range |
|---|---|---|
| linux | linux_kernel | * |
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
| CWE ID | Description |
|---|---|
| CWE-UNKNOWN |
Attack-Flow Graph
AI Powered Q&A
Can you explain this vulnerability to me?
This vulnerability is a memory leak in the Linux kernel's qla2xxx SCSI driver. Specifically, during the initialization of the adapter in the function qla2x00_probe_one(), if the adapter's base_vha initialization fails, a memory allocation called 'scan.l' is not properly freed in the error handling path. This causes allocated memory to remain unreferenced and not released, leading to a memory leak.
How can this vulnerability impact me? :
The memory leak can cause the system to consume more memory over time without releasing it, potentially leading to degraded system performance or instability, especially on systems using the affected qla2xxx SCSI driver. This could result in resource exhaustion if the leak occurs repeatedly during adapter initialization failures.
How can this vulnerability be detected on my network or system? Can you suggest some commands?
This vulnerability can be detected by using the Linux kernel's kmemleak tool, which reports memory leaks. You can enable kmemleak and check for unreferenced objects related to the qla2xxx driver. For example, run the following commands: 1. Enable kmemleak (if not already enabled): echo scan > /sys/kernel/debug/kmemleak 2. Check for memory leaks: cat /sys/kernel/debug/kmemleak Look for entries mentioning 'qla2xxx' or related to 'qla2x00_probe_one' or 'qla2x00_create_host'.
What immediate steps should I take to mitigate this vulnerability?
The immediate mitigation step is to update the Linux kernel to a version where this memory leak in the qla2xxx driver has been fixed. The fix involves freeing the allocated memory in the error handling path of the adapter initialization process. Until the update is applied, monitoring for memory leaks using kmemleak and avoiding conditions that trigger the adapter initialization failure may help reduce impact.