Linux Kernel up to 6.4.6 Ast Driver memory leak

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4.6	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.4.6. It has been rated as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown functionality of the component Ast Driver. The manipulation leads to memory leak. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2023-54091. There is not any exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.4.6 and classified as critical. This issue affects an unknown function of the component Ast Driver. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a memory leak vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-401. The product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, which slowly consumes remaining memory. Impacted is availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/client: Fix memory leak in drm_client_target_cloned dmt_mode is allocated and never freed in this function. It was found with the ast driver, but most drivers using generic fbdev setup are probably affected. This fixes the following kmemleak report: backtrace: [<00000000b391296d>] drm_mode_duplicate+0x45/0x220 [drm] [<00000000e45bb5b3>] drm_client_target_cloned.constprop.0+0x27b/0x480 [drm] [<00000000ed2d3a37>] drm_client_modeset_probe+0x6bd/0xf50 [drm] [<0000000010e5cc9d>] __drm_fb_helper_initial_config_and_unlock+0xb4/0x2c0 [drm_kms_helper] [<00000000909f82ca>] drm_fbdev_client_hotplug+0x2bc/0x4d0 [drm_kms_helper] [<00000000063a69aa>] drm_client_register+0x169/0x240 [drm] [<00000000a8c61525>] ast_pci_probe+0x142/0x190 [ast] [<00000000987f19bb>] local_pci_probe+0xdc/0x180 [<000000004fca231b>] work_for_cpu_fn+0x4e/0xa0 [<0000000000b85301>] process_one_work+0x8b7/0x1540 [<000000003375b17c>] worker_thread+0x70a/0xed0 [<00000000b0d43cd9>] kthread+0x29f/0x340 [<000000008d770833>] ret_from_fork+0x1f/0x30 unreferenced object 0xff11000333089a00 (size 128):

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2023-54091 since 12/24/2025. The exploitation is known to be difficult. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 279835 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2023-54091), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 4.14.322, 4.19.291, 5.4.251, 5.10.188, 5.15.123, 6.1.42 or 6.4.7 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch d3009700f48602b557eade1f22c98b6bc20247e8/a4b978249e8fa94956fce8b70a709f7797716f62/52daf6ba2e0d201640cb1ce42049c5c4426b4d6e/105275879a80503686a8108af2f5c579a1c5aef4/a85e23a1ef63e45a18f0a30d7816fcb4a865ca95/b5359d7a5087ac398fc429da6833133b4784c268/4b596a6e2d2e0f9c14e4122506dd715f43fcd727/c2a88e8bdf5f6239948d75283d0ae7e0c7945b03 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (279835) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2929). If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Affected

• Open Source Linux Kernel

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 4.14.321
• 4.19.290
• 5.4.250
• 5.10.187
• 5.15.122
• 6.1.0
• 6.1.1
• 6.1.2
• 6.1.3
• 6.1.4
• 6.1.5
• 6.1.6
• 6.1.7
• 6.1.8
• 6.1.9
• 6.1.10
• 6.1.11
• 6.1.12
• 6.1.13
• 6.1.14
• 6.1.15
• 6.1.16
• 6.1.17
• 6.1.18
• 6.1.19
• 6.1.20
• 6.1.21
• 6.1.22
• 6.1.23
• 6.1.24
• 6.1.25
• 6.1.26
• 6.1.27
• 6.1.28
• 6.1.29
• 6.1.30
• 6.1.31
• 6.1.32
• 6.1.33
• 6.1.34
• 6.1.35
• 6.1.36
• 6.1.37
• 6.1.38
• 6.1.39
• 6.1.40
• 6.1.41
• 6.4.0
• 6.4.1
• 6.4.2
• 6.4.3
• 6.4.4
• 6.4.5
• 6.4.6

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 4.8
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 4.6

VulDB Base Score: 4.8
VulDB Temp Score: 4.6
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Memory leak
CWE: CWE-401 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Partially

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Nessus ID: 279835
Nessus Name: Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2023-54091

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 4.14.322/4.19.291/5.4.251/5.10.188/5.15.123/6.1.42/6.4.7
Patch: d3009700f48602b557eade1f22c98b6bc20247e8/a4b978249e8fa94956fce8b70a709f7797716f62/52daf6ba2e0d201640cb1ce42049c5c4426b4d6e/105275879a80503686a8108af2f5c579a1c5aef4/a85e23a1ef63e45a18f0a30d7816fcb4a865ca95/b5359d7a5087ac398fc429da6833133b4784c268/4b596a6e2d2e0f9c14e4122506dd715f43fcd727/c2a88e8bdf5f6239948d75283d0ae7e0c7945b03

Timelineinfo

12/24/2025 Advisory disclosed
12/24/2025 +0 days CVE reserved
12/24/2025 +0 days VulDB entry created
01/02/2026 +9 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2023-54091 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2023-54091
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-338261
CERT Bund: WID-SEC-2025-2929 - Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen

Entryinfo

Created: 12/24/2025 16:37
Updated: 01/02/2026 22:19
Changes: 12/24/2025 16:37 (58), 12/25/2025 14:50 (1), 12/28/2025 06:13 (2), 01/02/2026 22:19 (7)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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