Security Resilience

CVE-2023-52439

Memory Safety in Linux Kernel 4.18.0 – 4.19.306

Memory Safety
Published
20 February 2024
Modified
04 August 2026
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0030 22th percentile
Risk Priority 56 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). EPSS scores by FIRST (EPSS SIG), generated by Empirical Security. Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-52439 is a high-severity Double Free (CWE-415) vulnerability in Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation of Remote Services (T1210); ranked at the 22th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: uio: Fix use-after-free in uio_open core-1 core-2 ------------------------------------------------------- uio_unregister_device uio_open idev = idr_find() device_unregister(&idev->dev) put_device(&idev->dev) uio_device_release get_device(&idev->dev) kfree(idev) uio_free_minor(minor) uio_release put_device(&idev->dev) kfree(idev) ------------------------------------------------------- In the core-1 uio_unregister_device(), the device_unregister will…

more

kfree idev when the idev->dev kobject ref is 1. But after core-1 device_unregister, put_device and before doing kfree, the core-2 may get_device. Then: 1. After core-1 kfree idev, the core-2 will do use-after-free for idev. 2. When core-2 do uio_release and put_device, the idev will be double freed. To address this issue, we can get idev atomic & inc idev reference with minor_lock.

CWE(s)
CWE-415

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
T1499 Endpoint Denial of Service Impact
Adversaries may perform Endpoint Denial of Service (DoS) attacks to degrade or block the availability of services to users.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

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CVE-2026-43276Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2025-38682Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2025-37779Same product: Linux Linux Kernel

Affected Assets

linux
linux kernel
4.18 · 4.18.0 — 4.19.306 · 4.20.0 — 5.4.268 · 5.5.0 — 5.10.209

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 1 hardening rule · 1 OS baseline
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

—

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation explicitly includes dynamic analysis and fuzzing that locate double-free defects before release.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Security engineering principles can require memory-safe allocation patterns or language features that structurally eliminate double-free opportunities.

SI-2 Flaw Remediation partial match

Flaw remediation processes require identification and correction of memory-management defects such as double free once discovered.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 full match
blocks

Secure SDLC practices directly prevent double-free errors via static analysis, safe memory APIs, and testing.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development can detect double-free conditions before release.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards directly address proper use of free() and similar functions.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (higher-evidence rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
  • V-248590 OL 8 must clear the page allocator to prevent use-after-free attacks. blocks CWE-415

References