Linux Kernel GICv3 IRQ Chip Error Handling Vulnerability Leading to Reference Count Leak

A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's GICv3 IRQ chip handling has been addressed. The issue arose in the 'gic_populate_ppi_partitionsof_get_child_by_name()' function, where error handling was inadequate. When the function returned a node pointer with an incremented reference count, the corresponding 'of_node_put()' was not called when the node was no longer needed. This oversight caused a reference count leak. The vulnerability has been fixed by ensuring that 'of_node_put()' is called appropriately, particularly when memory allocation with 'kcalloc' fails.

Impact

The vulnerability could lead to a reference count leak, potentially causing memory management issues.