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CVE-2023-54020 (GCVE-0-2023-54020)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2025-12-24 10:55 – Updated: 2026-05-23 15:31
VLAI
Title
dmaengine: sf-pdma: pdma_desc memory leak fix
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dmaengine: sf-pdma: pdma_desc memory leak fix Commit b2cc5c465c2c ("dmaengine: sf-pdma: Add multithread support for a DMA channel") changed sf_pdma_prep_dma_memcpy() to unconditionally allocate a new sf_pdma_desc each time it is called. The driver previously recycled descs, by checking the in_use flag, only allocating additional descs if the existing one was in use. This logic was removed in commit b2cc5c465c2c ("dmaengine: sf-pdma: Add multithread support for a DMA channel"), but sf_pdma_free_desc() was not changed to handle the new behaviour. As a result, each time sf_pdma_prep_dma_memcpy() is called, the previous descriptor is leaked, over time leading to memory starvation: unreferenced object 0xffffffe008447300 (size 192): comm "irq/39-mchp_dsc", pid 343, jiffies 4294906910 (age 981.200s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 00 00 00 ff 00 00 00 00 b8 c1 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 00 00 70 08 10 00 00 00 00 00 00 c0 00 00 00 00 ..p............. backtrace: [<00000000064a04f4>] kmemleak_alloc+0x1e/0x28 [<00000000018927a7>] kmem_cache_alloc+0x11e/0x178 [<000000002aea8d16>] sf_pdma_prep_dma_memcpy+0x40/0x112 Add the missing kfree() to sf_pdma_free_desc(), and remove the redundant in_use flag.
Severity
No CVSS data available.
Assigner
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version CPE status
Linux Linux Affected: 5ab2782c944e324008ef5d658f2494a9f0e3c5ac , < ad222c9af25e3f074c180e389b3477dce42afc4f (git)
Affected: b2cc5c465c2cb8ab697c3fd6583c614e3f6cfbcc , < 03fece43fa109beba7cc9948c02f5e2d1205d607 (git)
Affected: b2cc5c465c2cb8ab697c3fd6583c614e3f6cfbcc , < 8bd5040bd43f2b5ba3c898b09a3197a0c7ace126 (git)
Affected: b2cc5c465c2cb8ab697c3fd6583c614e3f6cfbcc , < b02e07015a5ac7bbc029da931ae17914b8ae0339 (git)
Affected: b9b4992f897be9b0b9e3a3b956cab6b75ccc3f11 (git)
Affected: 4c7350b1dd8a192af844de32fc99b9e34c876fda (git)
Affected: a93b3f1e11971a91b6441b6d47488f4492cc113f (git)
Affected: 5.15.61 , < 5.15.99 (semver)
Affected: 5.10.137 , < 5.11 (semver)
Affected: 5.18.18 , < 5.19 (semver)
Affected: 5.19.2 , < 5.20 (semver)
guessed Create a notification for this product.
Linux Linux Affected: 6.0
Unaffected: 0 , < 6.0 (semver)
Unaffected: 5.15.99 , ≤ 5.15.* (semver)
Unaffected: 6.1.16 , ≤ 6.1.* (semver)
Unaffected: 6.2.3 , ≤ 6.2.* (semver)
Unaffected: 6.3 , ≤ * (original_commit_for_fix)
guessed Create a notification for this product.
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{
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          "vendor": "Linux",
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        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\ndmaengine: sf-pdma: pdma_desc memory leak fix\n\nCommit b2cc5c465c2c (\"dmaengine: sf-pdma: Add multithread support for a\nDMA channel\") changed sf_pdma_prep_dma_memcpy() to unconditionally\nallocate a new sf_pdma_desc each time it is called.\n\nThe driver previously recycled descs, by checking the in_use flag, only\nallocating additional descs if the existing one was in use. This logic\nwas removed in commit b2cc5c465c2c (\"dmaengine: sf-pdma: Add multithread\nsupport for a DMA channel\"), but sf_pdma_free_desc() was not changed to\nhandle the new behaviour.\n\nAs a result, each time sf_pdma_prep_dma_memcpy() is called, the previous\ndescriptor is leaked, over time leading to memory starvation:\n\n  unreferenced object 0xffffffe008447300 (size 192):\n  comm \"irq/39-mchp_dsc\", pid 343, jiffies 4294906910 (age 981.200s)\n  hex dump (first 32 bytes):\n    00 00 00 ff 00 00 00 00 b8 c1 00 00 00 00 00 00  ................\n    00 00 70 08 10 00 00 00 00 00 00 c0 00 00 00 00  ..p.............\n  backtrace:\n    [\u003c00000000064a04f4\u003e] kmemleak_alloc+0x1e/0x28\n    [\u003c00000000018927a7\u003e] kmem_cache_alloc+0x11e/0x178\n    [\u003c000000002aea8d16\u003e] sf_pdma_prep_dma_memcpy+0x40/0x112\n\nAdd the missing kfree() to sf_pdma_free_desc(), and remove the redundant\nin_use flag."
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-05-23T15:31:58.250Z",
        "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "shortName": "Linux"
      },
      "references": [
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          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ad222c9af25e3f074c180e389b3477dce42afc4f"
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          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/03fece43fa109beba7cc9948c02f5e2d1205d607"
        },
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        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b02e07015a5ac7bbc029da931ae17914b8ae0339"
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      "title": "dmaengine: sf-pdma: pdma_desc memory leak fix",
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    "assignerShortName": "Linux",
    "cveId": "CVE-2023-54020",
    "datePublished": "2025-12-24T10:55:50.583Z",
    "dateReserved": "2025-12-24T10:53:46.179Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-05-23T15:31:58.250Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
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  "dataVersion": "5.2",
  "vulnerability-lookup:meta": {
    "epss": {
      "cve": "CVE-2023-54020",
      "date": "2026-09-16",
      "epss": "0.0019",
      "percentile": "0.08915"
    },
    "nvd": "{\"cve\":{\"id\":\"CVE-2023-54020\",\"sourceIdentifier\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\",\"published\":\"2025-12-24T11:15:55.003\",\"lastModified\":\"2026-06-17T06:46:33.090\",\"vulnStatus\":\"Deferred\",\"cveTags\":[],\"descriptions\":[{\"lang\":\"en\",\"value\":\"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\\n\\ndmaengine: sf-pdma: pdma_desc memory leak fix\\n\\nCommit b2cc5c465c2c (\\\"dmaengine: sf-pdma: Add multithread support for a\\nDMA channel\\\") changed sf_pdma_prep_dma_memcpy() to unconditionally\\nallocate a new sf_pdma_desc each time it is called.\\n\\nThe driver previously recycled descs, by checking the in_use flag, only\\nallocating additional descs if the existing one was in use. This logic\\nwas removed in commit b2cc5c465c2c (\\\"dmaengine: sf-pdma: Add multithread\\nsupport for a DMA channel\\\"), but sf_pdma_free_desc() was not changed to\\nhandle the new behaviour.\\n\\nAs a result, each time sf_pdma_prep_dma_memcpy() is called, the previous\\ndescriptor is leaked, over time leading to memory starvation:\\n\\n  unreferenced object 0xffffffe008447300 (size 192):\\n  comm \\\"irq/39-mchp_dsc\\\", pid 343, jiffies 4294906910 (age 981.200s)\\n  hex dump (first 32 bytes):\\n    00 00 00 ff 00 00 00 00 b8 c1 00 00 00 00 00 00  ................\\n    00 00 70 08 10 00 00 00 00 00 00 c0 00 00 00 00  ..p.............\\n  backtrace:\\n    [\u003c00000000064a04f4\u003e] kmemleak_alloc+0x1e/0x28\\n    [\u003c00000000018927a7\u003e] kmem_cache_alloc+0x11e/0x178\\n    [\u003c000000002aea8d16\u003e] sf_pdma_prep_dma_memcpy+0x40/0x112\\n\\nAdd the missing kfree() to sf_pdma_free_desc(), and remove the redundant\\nin_use flag.\"}],\"affected\":[{\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\",\"affectedData\":[{\"vendor\":\"Linux\",\"product\":\"Linux\",\"defaultStatus\":\"unaffected\",\"programFiles\":[\"drivers/dma/sf-pdma/sf-pdma.c\",\"drivers/dma/sf-pdma/sf-pdma.h\"],\"repo\":\"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git\",\"versions\":[{\"version\":\"5ab2782c944e324008ef5d658f2494a9f0e3c5ac\",\"lessThan\":\"ad222c9af25e3f074c180e389b3477dce42afc4f\",\"versionType\":\"git\",\"status\":\"affected\"},{\"version\":\"b2cc5c465c2cb8ab697c3fd6583c614e3f6cfbcc\",\"lessThan\":\"03fece43fa109beba7cc9948c02f5e2d1205d607\",\"versionType\":\"git\",\"status\":\"affected\"},{\"version\":\"b2cc5c465c2cb8ab697c3fd6583c614e3f6cfbcc\",\"lessThan\":\"8bd5040bd43f2b5ba3c898b09a3197a0c7ace126\",\"versionType\":\"git\",\"status\":\"affected\"},{\"version\":\"b2cc5c465c2cb8ab697c3fd6583c614e3f6cfbcc\",\"lessThan\":\"b02e07015a5ac7bbc029da931ae17914b8ae0339\",\"versionType\":\"git\",\"status\":\"affected\"},{\"version\":\"b9b4992f897be9b0b9e3a3b956cab6b75ccc3f11\",\"versionType\":\"git\",\"status\":\"affected\"},{\"version\":\"4c7350b1dd8a192af844de32fc99b9e34c876fda\",\"versionType\":\"git\",\"status\":\"affected\"},{\"version\":\"a93b3f1e11971a91b6441b6d47488f4492cc113f\",\"versionType\":\"git\",\"status\":\"affected\"},{\"version\":\"5.15.61\",\"lessThan\":\"5.15.99\",\"versionType\":\"semver\",\"status\":\"affected\"},{\"version\":\"5.10.137\",\"lessThan\":\"5.11\",\"versionType\":\"semver\",\"status\":\"affected\"},{\"version\":\"5.18.18\",\"lessThan\":\"5.19\",\"versionType\":\"semver\",\"status\":\"affected\"},{\"version\":\"5.19.2\",\"lessThan\":\"5.20\",\"versionType\":\"semver\",\"status\":\"affected\"}]},{\"vendor\":\"Linux\",\"product\":\"Linux\",\"defaultStatus\":\"affected\",\"programFiles\":[\"drivers/dma/sf-pdma/sf-pdma.c\",\"drivers/dma/sf-pdma/sf-pdma.h\"],\"repo\":\"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git\",\"versions\":[{\"version\":\"6.0\",\"status\":\"affected\"},{\"version\":\"0\",\"lessThan\":\"6.0\",\"versionType\":\"semver\",\"status\":\"unaffected\"},{\"version\":\"5.15.99\",\"lessThanOrEqual\":\"5.15.*\",\"versionType\":\"semver\",\"status\":\"unaffected\"},{\"version\":\"6.1.16\",\"lessThanOrEqual\":\"6.1.*\",\"versionType\":\"semver\",\"status\":\"unaffected\"},{\"version\":\"6.2.3\",\"lessThanOrEqual\":\"6.2.*\",\"versionType\":\"semver\",\"status\":\"unaffected\"},{\"version\":\"6.3\",\"lessThanOrEqual\":\"*\",\"versionType\":\"original_commit_for_fix\",\"status\":\"unaffected\"}]}]}],\"metrics\":{},\"references\":[{\"url\":\"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/03fece43fa109beba7cc9948c02f5e2d1205d607\",\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\"},{\"url\":\"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8bd5040bd43f2b5ba3c898b09a3197a0c7ace126\",\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\"},{\"url\":\"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ad222c9af25e3f074c180e389b3477dce42afc4f\",\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\"},{\"url\":\"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b02e07015a5ac7bbc029da931ae17914b8ae0339\",\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\"}]}}",
    "redhat_vex": {
      "aggregate_severity": "None",
      "current_release_date": "2026-06-30T10:15:46+00:00",
      "cve": "CVE-2023-54020",
      "id": "CVE-2023-54020",
      "initial_release_date": "2023-01-01T00:00:00+00:00",
      "product_status:known_not_affected": "274",
      "source": "Red Hat CSAF VEX",
      "status": "final",
      "title": "kernel: dmaengine: sf-pdma: pdma_desc memory leak fix",
      "url": "https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2023/cve-2023-54020.json",
      "version": "3"
    },
    "suse_vex": {
      "aggregate_severity": "moderate",
      "current_release_date": "2026-08-31T00:54:48Z",
      "cve": "CVE-2023-54020",
      "id": "CVE-2023-54020",
      "initial_release_date": "2025-12-25T00:57:32Z",
      "product_status:known_affected": "354",
      "product_status:known_not_affected": "432",
      "product_status:recommended": "196",
      "source": "SUSE CSAF VEX",
      "status": "interim",
      "title": "SUSE CVE CVE-2023-54020",
      "url": "https://ftp.suse.com/pub/projects/security/csaf-vex/cve-2023-54020.json",
      "version": "22"
    }
  }
}



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Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.

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  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
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  • Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.


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