CVE-2023-53515: Linux Kernel

High severity, CVSS 7.8. EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: virtio-mmio: don't break lifecycle of vm_dev vm_dev has a separate lifecycle because it has a 'struct device' embedded. Thus, having a release callback for it is correct. Allocating the vm_dev struct with devres totally breaks this protection, though. Instead of waiting for the vm_dev release callback, the memory is freed when the platform_device is removed. Resulting in a use-after-free when finally the callback is to be called. To easily see the problem, compile the kernel with CONFIG_DEBUG_KOBJECT_RELEASE and unbind with sysfs. The fix is easy, don't use devres in this case. Found during my research about object lifetime problems.

Affected products

• Linux Linux Kernel: from 4.15.1, before 4.19.293 (fixed in 4.19.293); from 4.20, before 5.4.255 (fixed in 5.4.255); from 5.5, before 5.10.192 (fixed in 5.10.192); from 5.11, before 5.15.128 (fixed in 5.15.128); from 5.16, before 6.1.47 (fixed in 6.1.47); from 6.2, before 6.4.12 (fixed in 6.4.12); …

Published 2025-10-01. Last modified 2026-06-17.