CVE-2023-54020

Local service interruption via descriptor leak

Published Dec 24, 2025 · Updated Dec 24, 2025

Memory leak in the sf-pdma DMA driver in Linux allows local users to exhaust kernel memory by repeatedly preparing DMA copies. sf_pdma_prep_dma_memcpy allocates a new descriptor for every request, while sf_pdma_free_desc fails to release the prior descriptor after recycling was removed. Reachability requires local low-privileged access and an active sf-pdma path; sustained requests can starve memory and interrupt the host.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.19%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Memory leak in the sf-pdma DMA driver in Linux allows local users to exhaust kernel memory by repeatedly preparing DMA copies. sf_pdma_prep_dma_memcpy allocates a new descriptor for every request, while sf_pdma_free_desc fails to release the prior descriptor after recycling was removed. Reachability requires local low-privileged access and an active sf-pdma path; sustained requests can starve memory and interrupt the host.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-54020
Published
Dec 24, 2025
Updated
Dec 24, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
Unavailable
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Dec 24, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Dec 24, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=4c7350b1dd8a192af844de32fc99b9e34c876fda
  2. Affected versionversion=5ab2782c944e324008ef5d658f2494a9f0e3c5ac <ad222c9af25e3f074c180e389b3477dce42afc4f
  3. Affected versionversion=6.0
  4. Affected versionversion=a93b3f1e11971a91b6441b6d47488f4492cc113f
  5. Affected versionversion=b2cc5c465c2cb8ab697c3fd6583c614e3f6cfbcc <03fece43fa109beba7cc9948c02f5e2d1205d607
  6. Affected versionversion=b2cc5c465c2cb8ab697c3fd6583c614e3f6cfbcc <8bd5040bd43f2b5ba3c898b09a3197a0c7ace126
  7. Affected versionversion=b2cc5c465c2cb8ab697c3fd6583c614e3f6cfbcc <b02e07015a5ac7bbc029da931ae17914b8ae0339
  8. Affected versionversion=b9b4992f897be9b0b9e3a3b956cab6b75ccc3f11

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=4c7350b1dd8a192af844de32fc99b9e34c876fda; version=5ab2782c944e324008ef5d658f2494a9f0e3c5ac <ad222c9af25e3f074c180e389b3477dce42afc4f; version=6.0; version=a93b3f1e11971a91b6441b6d47488f4492cc113f; version=b2cc5c465c2cb8ab697c3fd6583c614e3f6cfbcc <03fece43fa109beba7cc9948c02f5e2d1205d607; version=b2cc5c465c2cb8ab697c3fd6583c614e3f6cfbcc <8bd5040bd43f2b5ba3c898b09a3197a0c7ace126; version=b2cc5c465c2cb8ab697c3fd6583c614e3f6cfbcc <b02e07015a5ac7bbc029da931ae17914b8ae0339; version=b9b4992f897be9b0b9e3a3b956cab6b75ccc3f11

Published CVSS scores

5.5SUSECVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

No sourced classifications are available.

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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