CVE-2023-54221 clk: imx93: fix memory leak and missing unwind goto in imx93_clocks_probe
A memory leak and missing unwind in the Linux kernel i.MX93 clock driver can lead to resource exhaustion and denial of service.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2023-54221?
CVE-2023-54221 is a memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 30 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:
clk: imx93: fix memory leak and missing unwind goto in imx93_clocks_probe
In function probe(), it returns directly without unregistered hws when error occurs.
Fix this by adding 'goto unregister_hws;' on line 295 and line 310.
Use devm_kzalloc() instead of kzalloc() to automatically free the memory using devm_kfree() when error occurs.
Replace of_iomap() with devm_of_iomap() to automatically handle the unused ioremap region and delete 'iounmap(anatop_base);' in unregister_hws.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-54221?
How do I fix CVE-2023-54221?
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-2023-54221 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54221 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2023-54221, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54221, GHSA-c6v6-34rg-jgwv, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54221.