Memory Leak Vulnerability in Linux Kernel's Host1x Management

CVE-2023-53514

What is CVE-2023-53514?

A memory leak vulnerability was discovered in the Linux kernel's host1x subsystem. This issue arises from the failure to properly release device names allocated through the “dev_set_name()” function before the module unloading process. The root cause is the incorrect reference counting for kobjects initialized in specific contexts, leading to allocated names not being freed. To mitigate this issue, developers are advised to utilize “device_unregister()” to correctly unregister successfully added devices, and to call “put_device()” for not added devices. Additionally, a release function was implemented in the device structure to prevent warnings associated with empty release functions.

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