CVE-2023-54024 KVM: Destroy target device if coalesced MMIO unregistration fails
A memory leak in the Linux kernel's KVM module allows local attackers to cause denial of service by failing coalesced MMIO unregistration.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2023-54024?
CVE-2023-54024 is a memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 Dec 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
KVM: Destroy target device if coalesced MMIO unregistration fails
Destroy and free the target coalesced MMIO device if unregistering said device fails. As clearly noted in the code, kvm_io_bus_unregister_dev() does not destroy the target device.
BUG: memory leak unreferenced object 0xffff888112a54880 (size 64): comm "syz-executor.2", pid 5258, jiffies 4297861402 (age 14.129s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 38 c7 67 15 00 c9 ff ff 38 c7 67 15 00 c9 ff ff 8.g.....8.g..... e0 c7 e1 83 ff ff ff ff 00 30 67 15 00 c9 ff ff .........0g..... backtrace: [<0000000006995a8a>] kmalloc include/linux/slab.h:556 [inline] [<0000000006995a8a>] kzalloc include/linux/slab.h:690 [inline] [<0000000006995a8a>] kvm_vm_ioctl_register_coalesced_mmio+0x8e/0x3d0 arch/x86/kvm/../../../virt/kvm/coalesced_mmio.c:150 [<00000000022550c2>] kvm_vm_ioctl+0x47d/0x1600 arch/x86/kvm/../../../virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:3323 [<000000008a75102f>] vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:46 [inline] [<000000008a75102f>] file_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:509 [inline] [<000000008a75102f>] do_vfs_ioctl+0xbab/0x1160 fs/ioctl.c:696 [<0000000080e3f669>] ksys_ioctl+0x76/0xa0 fs/ioctl.c:713 [<0000000059ef4888>] __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:720 [inline] [<0000000059ef4888>] __se_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:718 [inline] [<0000000059ef4888>] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x6f/0xb0 fs/ioctl.c:718 [<000000006444fa05>] do_syscall_64+0x9f/0x4e0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:290 [<000000009a4ed50b>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x49/0xbe
BUG: leak checking failed
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-54024?
How do I fix CVE-2023-54024?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.
Is CVE-2023-54024 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54024 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2023-54024, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54024, GHSA-93rr-243g-pg85, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54024.