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CVE Record

CVE-2023-54188: dmaengine: apple-admac: Fix 'current_tx' not getting freed

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dmaengine: apple-admac: Fix 'current_tx' not getting freed In terminate_all we should queue up all submitted descriptors to be freed. We do that for the content of the 'issued' and 'submitted' lists, but the 'current_tx' descriptor falls through the cracks as it's removed from the 'issued' list once it gets assigned to be the current descriptor. Explicitly queue up freeing of the 'current_tx' descriptor to address a memory leak that is otherwise present.

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysisunknown

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

This Linux kernel issue is a memory leak in the Apple ADMAC DMA engine driver. A transaction descriptor can be left allocated when DMA activity is terminated. The public record does not provide a CVSS score, confirmed impact beyond memory leakage, or evidence of active exploitation.

Executive priority

Treat as a targeted kernel maintenance item, not an emergency, unless the environment runs affected Linux kernels with apple-admac enabled and has memory pressure or availability sensitivity.

Technical view

The apple-admac driver’s terminate_all path frees descriptors from issued and submitted lists, but missed current_tx after it was removed from issued. The fix explicitly queues current_tx for freeing. The source bundle identifies Linux as affected and references stable kernel commits addressing the leak.

Likely exposure

Exposure appears limited to Linux kernels using the apple-admac DMA engine driver. The bundle lists Linux versions including 6.0, 6.1.25, 6.2.12, and 6.3, but the version metadata is ambiguous and should be checked against vendor kernel guidance.

Exploitation context

No source in the bundle reports active exploitation, public exploit code, or inclusion in CISA KEV. The described bug is a kernel memory leak, so the practical risk depends on whether an attacker or workload can repeatedly trigger the affected terminate path.

Researcher notes

The record lacks CVSS, CWE, exploitability details, and clear version range semantics. Analysis should focus on commit presence, driver reachability, and whether local workloads can trigger repeated DMA termination paths without providing offensive reproduction steps.

Mitigation direction

  • Review vendor kernel advisories for affected apple-admac driver versions.
  • Update to a kernel containing the referenced stable commits.
  • Prioritize systems that enable or load the apple-admac driver.
  • Monitor kernel memory pressure on potentially affected systems.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory Linux kernel versions across Apple ADMAC-capable systems.
  • Check whether the apple-admac driver is built or loaded.
  • Confirm the referenced fix commits are present in deployed kernels.
  • Review logs and telemetry for abnormal kernel memory growth.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
5

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.

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CVE-2023-54188 mapping review

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Unknown
CVSS
Not scored
Known Exploited
No
Published
Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

0CVSS vectors
3Timeline events
0ADP providers
4Source links

Vulnerability timeline

Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.

  1. CVE reservedCVE Program

    The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.

  2. CVE publishedCVE Program

    The CVE record was published.

  3. CVE updatedCVE Program

    The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
LinuxLinuxb127315d9a78c011c011b88b92f650510edcfbd2, b127315d9a78c011c011b88b92f650510edcfbd2, b127315d9a78c011c011b88b92f650510edcfbd2unaffected
LinuxLinux6.0, 0, 6.1.25, 6.2.12, 6.3affected
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

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