---
id: CVE-2023-53460
title: 'wifi: rtw88: fix memory leak in rtw_usb_probe()'
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  wifi: rtw88: fix memory leak in rtw_usb_probe()

  drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw88/usb.c:876 rtw_usb_probe()
  warn: 'hw' from ieee80211_alloc_hw() not released on lines…
severity: none
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= e3037485c68ec1a299ff41160d8fedbd4abc29b9 <
    6cc92379b80af005e1f49ef6ef790cddc58cf0da
  - >-
    Linux >= e3037485c68ec1a299ff41160d8fedbd4abc29b9 <
    48181d285623198c33bb9698992502687b258efa
  - Linux 5.2
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: partial
  timestamp: '2026-11-05T20:21:23.066647Z'
published: '2025-10-01'
updated: '2026-11-05'
sourceUpdated: '2026-11-05T20:31:10.100Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53460'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6cc92379b80af005e1f49ef6ef790cddc58cf0da'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/48181d285623198c33bb9698992502687b258efa'
tags:
  - cve.org
epss: 0.0014
epssPercentile: 0.03385
ingestedAt: '2026-11-05T22:38:31.797Z'
---

## Overview

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

wifi: rtw88: fix memory leak in rtw_usb_probe()

drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw88/usb.c:876 rtw_usb_probe()
warn: 'hw' from ieee80211_alloc_hw() not released on lines: 811

Fix this by modifying return to a goto statement.

## Affected

- `Linux >= e3037485c68ec1a299ff41160d8fedbd4abc29b9 < 6cc92379b80af005e1f49ef6ef790cddc58cf0da`
- `Linux >= e3037485c68ec1a299ff41160d8fedbd4abc29b9 < 48181d285623198c33bb9698992502687b258efa`
- `Linux 5.2`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.