Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2023-53274

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.4.10 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: clk: mediatek: mt8183: Add back SSPM related clocks This reverts commit 860690a93ef23b567f781c1b631623e27190f101. On the MT8183, the SSPM related clocks were removed claiming a lack of usage. This however causes some issues when the driver was converted to the new simple-probe mechanism. This mechanism allocates enough space for all the clocks defined in the clock driver, not the highest index in the DT binding. This leads to out-of-bound writes if their are holes in the DT binding or the driver (due to deprecated or unimplemented clocks). These errors can go unnoticed and cause memory corruption, leading to crashes in unrelated areas, or nothing at all. KASAN will detect them. Add the SSPM related clocks back to the MT8183 clock driver to fully implement the DT binding. The SSPM clocks are for the power management co-processor, and should never be turned off. They are marked as such.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-787

The program writes past the bounds of a buffer, overwriting adjacent memory an attacker can turn to their advantage. Crafted input can overwrite control data and redirect execution. Remediation is validating every index and length before a write, plus modern memory-safety mitigations.

General guidance for the out-of-bounds write class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 6.4, < 6.4.10= 6.5

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.4.10 or later
Fixed in 6.4.10
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 6.4.10+ or 6.5.1+ (or any later stable release such as 6.6.x)

  1. Identify the current running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. If running 6.4.x and version is < 6.4.10, plan for upgrade to 6.4.10 or later
  3. If running 6.5.x, plan for upgrade to 6.5.1 or later
  4. Obtain and install a kernel from the distribution's official repositories that includes the fix (6.4.10+, 6.5.1+, or 6.6+)
  5. Reboot the system into the new kernel
  6. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and confirming MT8183 clock driver loads without KASAN errors
Caveat Minor - this is a bugfix adding missing clock definitions; kernel upgrade carries standard upgrade risks but this specific fix has no known breaking changes

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $3,200. Get the upgrade done

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Free · runs locally
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-53274 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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