Cloudanix VulnDB

CVE-2023-54307

None

CVSS

—

EPSS

0.2%

Published

Dec 30, 2025

CISA due date

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Cloudanix analysis

Schedule a fix SSVC: Track

A coding mistake in Linux time hardware support could slowly leak memory if the driver fails to start on certain chips, eventually affecting system stability.

Exploitation
Local Privilege
Attacker needs
Local User
Complexity
Theoretical
Impact
Denial Of Service
Component
OS kernel
Class
Other
Remediation
Patch
Effort
Low
Patch risk
Low

What it actually does

Unreleased ioremap mapping for 'base' in ptp_qoriq_probe when ptp_qoriq_init returns -ENODEV on the initial error path, leaving the mapping allocated.

Why it matters to the business

Gradual kernel memory exhaustion on systems using the QorIQ PTP driver after repeated probe failures, risking instability in embedded or networking deployments over time.

How an attack unfolds

An attacker triggers repeated device probe failures on ptp_qoriq hardware to exercise the early -ENODEV return path and accumulate unreleased mappings; limited to local kernel contexts with specific hardware.

How to fix it

Upgrade the Linux kernel to a version containing commit 46c4993a1514eea3bbc7147d0c81c23cc06c6bed which revises the probe error handling to release the mapping.

How to confirm the fix worked

Inspect drivers/ptp/ptp_qoriq.c in the fixed tree to confirm 'base' is released on the initial -ENODEV path and that ptp_qoriq->base and local base are handled consistently.

Typical attack path

  1. Locate systems exposing ptp_qoriq hardware or driver loading
  2. Induce conditions causing ptp_qoriq_init to fail with -ENODEV on first path
  3. Repeat probe invocations to leak mappings incrementally

How to detect it

Review kernel logs for ptp_qoriq_probe warnings or -ENODEV returns followed by ioremap without corresponding iounmap; correlate with rising slab or vmalloc usage.

What your security team should do

  • Apply the referenced kernel commit or distribution update containing the fix
  • Prioritize updates on systems with QorIQ PTP hardware given the low but non-zero EPSS
  • Monitor kernel memory statistics for unexpected growth after driver load attempts

The record

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ptp_qoriq: fix memory leak in probe() Smatch complains that: drivers/ptp/ptp_qoriq.c ptp_qoriq_probe() warn: 'base' from ioremap() not released. Fix this by revising the parameter from 'ptp_qoriq->base' to 'base'. This is only a bug if ptp_qoriq_init() returns on the first -ENODEV error path. For other error paths ptp_qoriq->base and base are the same. And this change makes the code more readable.

Affected packages

Ecosystem Package Introduced Fixed
Linux Kernel 5.2.0 5.4.240

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