CVE-2023-54115
Memory Leak in Linux Kernel PCMCIA Resource Management
Publication date: 2025-12-24
Last updated on: 2025-12-24
Assigner: kernel.org
Description
Description
CVSS Scores
EPSS Scores
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Meta Information
Affected Vendors & Products
| Vendor | Product | Version / Range |
|---|---|---|
| acer | travelmate_4002wlmi | * |
| linux | yenta_socket | * |
| linux | linux_kernel | * |
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
| CWE ID | Description |
|---|---|
| CWE-UNKNOWN |
Attack-Flow Graph
AI Powered Q&A
Can you explain this vulnerability to me?
This vulnerability is a memory leak in the Linux kernel's PCMCIA subsystem. Specifically, the function nonstatic_release_resource_db() fails to free the socket_data when it frees all resources associated with a PCMCIA socket. This causes memory to be allocated but never released, which can be detected by tools like kmemleak.
How can this vulnerability impact me? :
The memory leak caused by this vulnerability can lead to increased memory usage over time, potentially degrading system performance or causing resource exhaustion if the affected PCMCIA sockets are frequently allocated and released without proper cleanup.
How can this vulnerability be detected on my network or system? Can you suggest some commands?
This vulnerability can be detected by observing memory leaks related to PCMCIA socket resources using kmemleak. You can enable kmemleak in the Linux kernel and monitor for unreferenced objects related to pcmcia, such as socket_data. Commands to help detect this include: 1. Enable kmemleak (if not already enabled): echo scan > /sys/kernel/debug/kmemleak 2. Check kmemleak reports: cat /sys/kernel/debug/kmemleak 3. Manually bind/unbind the yenta_cardbus driver to trigger the issue: modprobe -r yenta_socket modprobe yenta_socket Monitoring kmemleak output after these steps can help detect the memory leak caused by this vulnerability.
What immediate steps should I take to mitigate this vulnerability?
Immediate mitigation involves updating the Linux kernel to a version where the pcmcia: rsrc_nonstatic memory leak in nonstatic_release_resource_db() is fixed. Until then, avoid frequent binding and unbinding of the yenta_cardbus driver (yenta_socket) to reduce triggering the memory leak. Monitoring and cleaning up with kmemleak can help manage the issue temporarily.