Linux Kernel Staging Fbtft Potential Memory Leak Vulnerability

A memory leak vulnerability has been identified in the Linux kernel's staging fbtft driver. The issue arises in the 'fbtft_framebuffer_alloc' function, where the 'fb_info' structure is allocated but not properly cleaned up in case of an error. Specifically, the memory allocated for 'info->pagerefs' is not freed, leading to a potential memory leak.

Impact

Exploitation of this vulnerability can lead to a memory leak, where allocated memory is not properly released, potentially causing increased memory usage and degradation of system performance over time.

Reproduction

The vulnerability can be reproduced by allocating the 'fb_info' structure in the 'fbtft_framebuffer_alloc' function of the fbtft driver, and then triggering an error that causes the function to exit before the allocated memory for 'info->pagerefs' is freed. This can be done by simulating a failure in the framebuffer allocation process, which will result in the memory leak.

Remediation

The vulnerability has been addressed by adding a cleanup function to the error path of the 'fbtft_framebuffer_alloc' function, ensuring that the allocated memory is properly freed in case of an error.