Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime
CVE-2021-47537
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: octeontx2-af: Fix a memleak bug in rvu_mbox_init() In rvu_mbox_init(), mbox_regions is not freed or passed out under the switch-default region, which could lead to a memory leak. Fix this bug by changing 'return err' to 'goto free_regions'. This bug was found by a static analyzer. The analysis employs differential checking to identify inconsistent security operations (e.g., checks or kfrees) between two code paths and confirms that the inconsistent operations are not recovered in the current function or the callers, so they constitute bugs. Note that, as a bug found by static analysis, it can be a false positive or hard to trigger. Multiple researchers have cross-reviewed the bug. Builds with CONFIG_OCTEONTX2_AF=y show no new warnings, and our static analyzer no longer warns about this code.
- LOW
- LOCAL
- NONE
- UNCHANGED
- NONE
- LOW
- NONE
- HIGH
CWE-401 - Missing release of memory after effective lifetime (memory leak)
'Missing release of memory after effective lifetime (memory leak)' is a weakness that occurs when software doesn't effectively release allocated memory after it is used. If not addressed, this enables attackers to launch denial of service attacks (by crashing or hanging the program) or take advantage of other unexpected behavior resulting from low memory conditions.
References
Advisory Timeline
- Published
