CVE-2023-53515
HIGHLinux Kernel 4.15.1-4.19.293 - Use-After-Free in virtio-mmio vm_dev Lifecycle
Title source: llmDescription
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.
References (7)
Core 7
Core References
Scores
CVSS v3
7.8
EPSS
0.0014
EPSS Percentile
3.6%
Attack Vector
LOCAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Details
CWE
CWE-416
Status
published
Products (19)
Linux/Linux
< 4.15
Linux/Linux
4.15
Linux/Linux
4.19.293 - 4.19.*
Linux/Linux
5.10.192 - 5.10.*
Linux/Linux
5.15.128 - 5.15.*
Linux/Linux
5.4.255 - 5.4.*
Linux/Linux
6.1.47 - 6.1.*
Linux/Linux
6.4.12 - 6.4.*
Linux/Linux
6.5
Linux/Linux
7eb781b1bbb7136fe78fb8c28c1c223c61fa32b5 - 2dcb368fe5a8eee498ca75c93a18ce2f3b0d6a8e
... and 9 more
Published
Oct 01, 2025
Tracked Since
Feb 18, 2026