Linux Kernel Memory Leak Vulnerability in IOSM WWAN Driver

A memory leak vulnerability has been identified in the Linux kernel's IOSM WWAN driver. The driver registers a network device without indicating that it needs to be freed, leading to a memory leak when the device is unregistered. The issue arises because the driver fails to set the 'needs_free_netdev' flag and does not call 'free_netdev()' upon unregistering the network device. This vulnerability affects several versions of the Linux kernel.

Impact

Exploitation of this vulnerability leads to a memory leak, causing increased memory usage that is not released back to the system.

Remediation

The vulnerability has been addressed by modifying the driver to set the 'needs_free_netdev' flag to true when registering the network device. This change ensures that the network device is properly freed after it is unregistered.