Bug 2424971 (CVE-2023-54016)

Summary: CVE-2023-54016 kernel: Linux kernel: Memory leak in ath12k Wi-Fi driver can lead to denial of service
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
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Priority: medium    
Version: unspecifiedKeywords: Security
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OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's ath12k Wi-Fi driver. This memory leak vulnerability occurs because the driver allocates memory for receive and transmit descriptors during initialization but fails to free this memory during cleanup. A local attacker could exploit this by repeatedly triggering the allocation and cleanup process, potentially leading to a denial of service (DoS) due to memory exhaustion.
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2025-12-24 12:04:51 UTC 
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

wifi: ath12k: Fix memory leak in rx_desc and tx_desc

Currently when ath12k_dp_cc_desc_init() is called we allocate
memory to rx_descs and tx_descs. In ath12k_dp_cc_cleanup(), during
descriptor cleanup rx_descs and tx_descs memory is not freed.

This is cause of memory leak. These allocated memory should be
freed in ath12k_dp_cc_cleanup.

In ath12k_dp_cc_desc_init(), we can save base address of rx_descs
and tx_descs. In ath12k_dp_cc_cleanup(), we can free rx_descs and
tx_descs memory using their base address.

Tested-on: QCN9274 hw2.0 PCI WLAN.WBE.1.0.1-00029-QCAHKSWPL_SILICONZ-1
Comment 1 Alexander B 2025-12-25 11:57:04 UTC 
Upstream advisory:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2025122432-CVE-2023-54016-522e@gregkh/T