Junglewise Threat Intelligence

CVE-2025-23160: Linux Kernel MediaTek vcodec resource leak in SCP initialization

CVE-2025-23160 · Severity: medium · CVSS 5.5 · Published 2025-05-01

Technologies: Linux Kernel. Vendors: Linux.

Executive brief

A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's video codec driver for MediaTek devices could allow a local user to cause a resource leak. This occurs during the initialization of the system companion processor (SCP), a component that handles background tasks to improve efficiency. If exploited, this could lead to memory exhaustion, potentially causing system instability or a denial-of-service condition on affected hardware.

Technical details

A memory leak vulnerability (CWE-401) exists in the mtk_vcodec_fw_scp_init function within the MediaTek vcodec driver. The root cause is a failure to call scp_put() to release the mtk_scp structure when a subsequent memory allocation for the firmware structure (fw) fails. This vulnerability is reachable by local users with sufficient privileges to trigger firmware initialization. An attacker could potentially exploit this to exhaust system resources, leading to a denial-of-service (DoS). The issue has been patched across multiple stable kernel branches by ensuring the SCP device is explicitly removed during error handling.

Affected products

  • Linux Linux Kernel 6.1.130 to 6.1.153, 6.6.36 to 6.6.88, 6.9.7 to 6.12.24, 6.13 to 6.13.12, 6.14 to 6.14.3

Timeline

  • 2025-02-18: other: Patch authored
  • 2025-05-01: disclosed: CVE published
  • 2025-11-06: advisory: NVD enrichment and CVSS assessment provided

References

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