CVE-2024-27076

What it actually does

The flaw is a memory leak where memory allocated during v4l2_ctrl_handler_init in the IMX CSC/scaler media driver is never freed on release, allowing gradual exhaustion of kernel memory resources.

Why it matters to the business

Systems performing repeated media scaling or video capture operations may experience increasing memory pressure, degraded performance, or eventual denial of service, particularly in long-running embedded or multimedia workloads; kernel updates are required to eliminate the leak.

How an attack unfolds

An attacker with local access loads or exercises the affected IMX media driver (for example via V4L2 applications) to repeatedly initialize and release the control handler, causing the kernel to allocate memory that is never reclaimed until the system is rebooted or the module is unloaded.

How to fix it

Update the Linux kernel to a version containing commit 8c2e4efe1278cd2b230cdbf90a6cefbf00acc282 or later; rebuild and deploy the fixed kernel image, then reboot affected systems.

How to confirm the fix worked

Verify the running kernel contains the fix commit, inspect the driver source for the added kfree or handler cleanup on release, and confirm via code review or memory-leak testing tools that v4l2_ctrl_handler memory is released.

Typical attack path

1. Obtain local user access on a Linux system using the IMX CSC/scaler driver
2. Trigger V4L2 operations that call v4l2_ctrl_handler_init on the scaler
3. Repeat initialization/release cycles to accumulate leaked memory
4. Monitor until memory pressure causes application or kernel instability

How to detect it

Review kernel logs and memory statistics for sustained growth in slab allocations tied to v4l2 or media drivers; correlate with process activity that exercises the IMX scaler; examine dmesg or /proc/slabinfo for unreclaimed v4l2_ctrl_handler objects over time.

What your security team should do

• Prioritize kernel upgrade on all systems using the IMX media driver within the next maintenance window
• Test the updated kernel in a staging environment with media workloads before production rollout
• Monitor kernel memory usage trends on affected devices until patches are applied