# CVE-2023-54091: drm/client: Fix memory leak in drm_client_target_cloned

> A memory leak in the Linux kernel DRM client allows local attackers to exhaust system memory, potentially causing a denial of service.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 24 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-54091, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54091, GHSA-h228-354g-ppq4, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54091

## What is CVE-2023-54091?

CVE-2023-54091 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:

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):

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-54091?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-54091?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-54091 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54091 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-54091 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-54091 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54091 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54091/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54091/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-54091
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-54091
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-54091

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54091/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.