Vulnerability · Published Dec 24, 2025 · Assigned by Linux
CVE-2023-54020dmaengine: sf-pdma: pdma_desc memory leak fix
Unrated
In plain English
A security flaw in Linux from Linux. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.2% (higher than 9% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.
Official description
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.
Affected packages & fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian:12 | linux | 6.1.20-1 | DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Debian:13 | linux | 6.1.20-1 | DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Debian:14 | linux | 6.1.20-1 | DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux | 5.15.0-75.82 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-allwinner-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-aws | 5.15.0-1038.43 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-aws-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-aws-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-aws-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure | 5.15.0-1040.47 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-azure-6.11 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-fde | 5.15.0-1041.48.1 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-fde-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-fde-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gcp | 5.15.0-1036.44 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gcp-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-gcp-6.11 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gcp-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gcp-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gke | 5.15.0-1036.41 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gkeop | 5.15.0-1022.27 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-hwe-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-hwe-6.11 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-hwe-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-hwe-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-ibm | 5.15.0-1032.35 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-intel-iot-realtime | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-intel-iotg | 5.15.0-1033.38 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-kvm | 5.15.0-1035.40 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-lowlatency | 5.15.0-75.82 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-nvidia | 5.15.0-1027.27 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-nvidia-6.11 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-nvidia-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-nvidia-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-nvidia-tegra | 5.15.0-1015.15 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oem-5.17 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.0 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.1 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.11 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.8 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oracle | 5.15.0-1037.43 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oracle-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-raspi | 5.15.0-1032.35 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-raspi-realtime | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-realtime | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-realtime | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-riscv | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-riscv | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-riscv-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-riscv-6.14 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-riscv-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-starfive-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-starfive-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-starfive-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54020 |
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 5ab2782c944e324008ef5d658f2494a9f0e3c5ac – before ad222c9af25e3f074c180e389b3477dce42afc4fb2cc5c465c2cb8ab697c3fd6583c614e3f6cfbcc – before 03fece43fa109beba7cc9948c02f5e2d1205d607b2cc5c465c2cb8ab697c3fd6583c614e3f6cfbcc – before 8bd5040bd43f2b5ba3c898b09a3197a0c7ace126b2cc5c465c2cb8ab697c3fd6583c614e3f6cfbcc – before b02e07015a5ac7bbc029da931ae17914b8ae0339b9b4992f897be9b0b9e3a3b956cab6b75ccc3f114c7350b1dd8a192af844de32fc99b9e34c876fdaa93b3f1e11971a91b6441b6d47488f4492cc113f5.15.61 – before 5.15.99 |
| Linux | Linux | 6.0 |