CVE-2023-53505

What it actually does

Memory leak in the error handling path of the tegra124-emc clock driver where allocated tegra structures are not freed, leading to gradual kernel memory exhaustion on repeated failure paths.

Why it matters to the business

Systems running affected Linux kernels on Tegra hardware may experience increasing memory pressure and eventual instability or denial of service after prolonged operation or repeated error conditions in the EMC clock subsystem; low exploitability reduces immediate risk but still requires patching on affected Debian releases and upstream kernels.

How an attack unfolds

An attacker with local access triggers repeated error paths in the tegra124-emc driver initialization or configuration, causing the kernel to allocate memory without freeing it on failure; over time this exhausts available memory without direct code execution or privilege escalation.

How to fix it

Update to fixed kernel versions: Debian 11/12/13/14 packages 5.10.46-1 or later; upstream Linux git commit 801c8341f7aff07c494b53e627970b72635af5d3 or equivalent stable backports that properly free the structures in the error path.

How to confirm the fix worked

Verify the running kernel includes commit 801c8341f7aff07c494b53e627970b72635af5d3 or is at least version 5.10.46-1 on Debian; inspect the tegra124-emc driver source for the added kfree calls on error paths; monitor /proc/meminfo and slab usage for unexpected growth after stress-testing the driver.

Typical attack path

1. Obtain local access to a system using the tegra124-emc driver
2. Trigger repeated failures in clock configuration or error handling paths
3. Monitor for gradual kernel memory depletion
4. Induce system instability or crash once memory is exhausted

How to detect it

Review kernel logs for repeated tegra124-emc error paths; correlate with rising slab or kmalloc memory usage without corresponding workload; look for processes or drivers repeatedly invoking clock configuration that hits the leaky error branch.

What your security team should do

• Prioritize patching all Tegra-based systems to the listed fixed versions within standard change windows
• Add kernel version checks to asset inventory and vulnerability scanners
• Monitor memory utilization trends on affected hardware as a compensating control until patched
• Review downstream dependents and container images for embedded vulnerable kernels