CVE-2024-27073

What it actually does

Two memory leaks occur in budget_av_attach when saa7146_register_device or saa7146_vv_init fail; allocated resources are not freed on those error paths.

Why it matters to the business

Systems using the affected DVB hardware may experience gradual memory exhaustion after repeated driver attachment failures, potentially leading to reduced stability or the need for reboots in long-running environments.

How an attack unfolds

An attacker with local access or the ability to trigger device re-initialization can repeatedly cause the driver attachment to fail, leaking kernel memory each time until system resources are depleted.

How to fix it

Update the Linux kernel to the commit af37aed04997e644f7e1b52b696b62dcae3cc016 or later stable releases that include the corrected error-handling paths in budget_av_attach.

How to confirm the fix worked

Inspect the source of budget_av_attach for proper resource release on saa7146_register_device and saa7146_vv_init failure; verify the presence of the referenced commit in the running kernel tree.

Typical attack path

1. Obtain local access or ability to unload/reload the ttpci driver
2. Trigger saa7146_register_device or saa7146_vv_init failure conditions
3. Repeat attachment attempts to accumulate leaked memory
4. Monitor for system-wide memory pressure or OOM events

How to detect it

Review kernel logs for repeated saa7146 or budget_av_attach error paths; correlate with rising slab or kmalloc memory usage without corresponding process growth.

What your security team should do

• Apply the kernel fix immediately on any systems exposing the ttpci driver
• Monitor memory usage on hosts with DVB hardware until patched
• Audit custom kernel configurations that include media drivers for similar missing error paths