# CVE-2024-44971: net: dsa: bcm\_sf2: Fix a possible memory leak in bcm\_sf2\_mdio\_register()

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2024-09-04 · Updated: 2026-05-11

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 5.10

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: dsa: bcm_sf2: Fix a possible memory leak in bcm_sf2_mdio_register() bcm_sf2_mdio_register() calls of_phy_find_device() and then phy_device_remove() in a loop to remove existing PHY devices. of_phy_find_device() eventually calls bus_find_device(), which calls get_device() on the returned struct device * to increment the refcount. The current implementation does not decrement the refcount, which causes memory leak. This commit adds the missing phy_device_free() call to decrement the refcount via put_device() to balance the refcount.

## 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.
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  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2024-44971

## 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/b7b8d9f5e679af60c94251fd6728dde34be69a71
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c05516c072903f6fb9134b8e7e1ad4bffcdc4819
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7feef10768ea71d468d9bbc1e0d14c461876768c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a7d2808d67570e6acae45c2a96e0d59986888e4c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f3d5efe18a11f94150fee8b3fda9d62079af640a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e3862093ee93fcfbdadcb7957f5f8974fffa806a

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2024-44971
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