Linux Kernel ath12k Memory Leak Vulnerability in Descriptor Management

A memory leak vulnerability has been identified in the Linux kernel's ath12k wireless driver. When the function ath12k_dp_cc_desc_init() is called, it allocates memory for receive and transmit descriptors. However, this memory is not properly freed during the cleanup process in ath12k_dp_cc_cleanup(), leading to a memory leak. The issue arises because the cleanup function does not release the allocated memory for the descriptors, which should be done using the base addresses saved during the initialization. This vulnerability has been tested on the QCN9274 hardware version 2.0, PCI WLAN, with the software version WBE.1.0.1-00029-QCAHKSWPL_SILICONZ-1.

Impact

The vulnerability causes a memory leak, where allocated memory for receive and transmit descriptors is not freed, potentially leading to increased memory usage and degradation of system performance over time.

Remediation

Users can apply the patch available in the Linux kernel stable tree to address this vulnerability. The patch is included in the upstream commit e16be2d34883eecfe7fd888fcdb76c7a5db5d187.