---
id: CVE-2023-53594
title: 'driver core: fix resource leak in device_add()'
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  driver core: fix resource leak in device_add()

  When calling kobject_add() failed in device_add(), it will call
  cleanup_glue_dir() to free resource. But in kobject_add(…
severity: none
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= cebf8fd16900fdfd58c0028617944f808f97fe50 <
    8d389e363075c2e1deb84a560686ea92123e4b8b
  - >-
    Linux >= cebf8fd16900fdfd58c0028617944f808f97fe50 <
    d1dbff10c6cd3b43457f3efd3c9c4950009635bf
  - >-
    Linux >= cebf8fd16900fdfd58c0028617944f808f97fe50 <
    f39d21154db87545d8f0b25d13c326f37cc32239
  - >-
    Linux >= cebf8fd16900fdfd58c0028617944f808f97fe50 <
    6977b1a5d67097eaa4d02b0c126c04cc6e8917c0
  - Linux e7f6e3c9db4b6f259c89fd05728d024ab32acd71
  - Linux a93a63333dbdb182b87e8cc99df8b4474f867acb
  - Linux 37de955c11b59050346e530143c20b10b4846527
  - Linux 645897231f960590220144b06d1f994b7eb88326
  - Linux >= 3.10.105 < 3.11
  - Linux >= 3.12.70 < 3.13
  - Linux >= 4.4.40 < 4.5
  - Linux >= 4.8.16 < 4.9
  - Linux 4.9
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: partial
  timestamp: '2026-11-05T20:24:49.348431Z'
published: '2025-10-04'
updated: '2026-11-05'
sourceUpdated: '2026-11-05T20:31:16.299Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53594'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8d389e363075c2e1deb84a560686ea92123e4b8b'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d1dbff10c6cd3b43457f3efd3c9c4950009635bf'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f39d21154db87545d8f0b25d13c326f37cc32239'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6977b1a5d67097eaa4d02b0c126c04cc6e8917c0'
tags:
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00148
epssPercentile: 0.04029
ingestedAt: '2026-11-05T22:38:31.814Z'
---

## Overview

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

driver core: fix resource leak in device_add()

When calling kobject_add() failed in device_add(), it will call
cleanup_glue_dir() to free resource. But in kobject_add(),
dev->kobj.parent has been set to NULL. This will cause resource leak.

The process is as follows:
device_add()
	get_device_parent()
		class_dir_create_and_add()
			kobject_add()		//kobject_get()
	...
	dev->kobj.parent = kobj;
	...
	kobject_add()		//failed, but set dev->kobj.parent = NULL
	...
	glue_dir = get_glue_dir(dev)	//glue_dir = NULL, and goto
					//"Error" label
	...
	cleanup_glue_dir()	//becaues glue_dir is NULL, not call
				//kobject_put()

The preceding problem may cause insmod mac80211_hwsim.ko to failed.
sysfs: cannot create duplicate filename '/devices/virtual/mac80211_hwsim'
Call Trace:
<TASK>
dump_stack_lvl+0x8e/0xd1
sysfs_warn_dup.cold+0x1c/0x29
sysfs_create_dir_ns+0x224/0x280
kobject_add_internal+0x2aa/0x880
kobject_add+0x135/0x1a0
get_device_parent+0x3d7/0x590
device_add+0x2aa/0x1cb0
device_create_groups_vargs+0x1eb/0x260
device_create+0xdc/0x110
mac80211_hwsim_new_radio+0x31e/0x4790 [mac80211_hwsim]
init_mac80211_hwsim+0x48d/0x1000 [mac80211_hwsim]
do_one_initcall+0x10f/0x630
do_init_module+0x19f/0x5e0
load_module+0x64b7/0x6eb0
__do_sys_finit_module+0x140/0x200
do_syscall_64+0x35/0x80
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0
</TASK>
kobject_add_internal failed for mac80211_hwsim with -EEXIST, don't try to
register things with the same name in the same directory.

## Affected

- `Linux >= cebf8fd16900fdfd58c0028617944f808f97fe50 < 8d389e363075c2e1deb84a560686ea92123e4b8b`
- `Linux >= cebf8fd16900fdfd58c0028617944f808f97fe50 < d1dbff10c6cd3b43457f3efd3c9c4950009635bf`
- `Linux >= cebf8fd16900fdfd58c0028617944f808f97fe50 < f39d21154db87545d8f0b25d13c326f37cc32239`
- `Linux >= cebf8fd16900fdfd58c0028617944f808f97fe50 < 6977b1a5d67097eaa4d02b0c126c04cc6e8917c0`
- `Linux e7f6e3c9db4b6f259c89fd05728d024ab32acd71`
- `Linux a93a63333dbdb182b87e8cc99df8b4474f867acb`
- `Linux 37de955c11b59050346e530143c20b10b4846527`
- `Linux 645897231f960590220144b06d1f994b7eb88326`
- `Linux >= 3.10.105 < 3.11`
- `Linux >= 3.12.70 < 3.13`
- `Linux >= 4.4.40 < 4.5`
- `Linux >= 4.8.16 < 4.9`
- `Linux 4.9`

## Remediation

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