CVE-2023-54111: 
Linux Kernel vulnerability analysis and mitigation

CVE-2023-54111 is a reference count (refcount) leak vulnerability in the Linux kernel's pinctrl: rockchip subsystem, specifically within the rockchip_pinctrl_parse_groups function. The issue arises because of_find_node_by_phandle() returns a node pointer with its reference count incremented, but the code fails to call of_node_put() to release it when the node is no longer needed. The vulnerability was published on December 24, 2025, and affects Linux kernel versions from 3.11 up to the patched stable releases. No CVSS score has been assigned; the EPSS score is approximately 0.024% (Feedly, ENISA EUVD).

The root cause is a missing of_node_put() call in rockchip_pinctrl_parse_groups() in the Linux kernel's Rockchip pin controller driver (CWE-401: Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime / resource leak). When of_find_node_by_phandle() is called to look up a device tree node by phandle, it increments the node's reference count; without a corresponding of_node_put(), the reference is never decremented, causing a kernel object reference count leak. This is a local, kernel-space issue that does not require network access or user interaction to trigger during normal device tree parsing at boot or driver probe time. Fixes were applied across multiple stable kernel branches via commits to the kernel stable tree (Feedly, ENISA EUVD).

The primary impact is a kernel resource leak — specifically, a reference count on a device tree node object is never released, which can lead to memory not being freed over time. In practice, this is a low-severity issue: it does not directly enable privilege escalation, code execution, or data exfiltration. On systems with Rockchip SoCs that repeatedly probe or re-initialize the pin controller, the leak could contribute to kernel memory exhaustion over extended uptime, potentially degrading system availability (Feedly).

The fix has been backported to multiple Linux stable kernel branches. Patched versions include: 4.14.308, 4.19.276, 5.4.270, 5.10.173, 5.15.99, 6.1.16, 6.2.3, and 6.3. Users running Rockchip-based systems on affected kernel versions should upgrade to the corresponding patched stable release. No configuration-based workaround is available; upgrading the kernel is the only remediation (ENISA EUVD, Kernel Stable).