Mitochondrial cardiolipin-specific phospholipase which deacylates de novo synthesized cardiolipin (CL). Part of the remodeling process of cardiolipin, which involves deacylation-reacylation of premature cardiolipin. Has a strong substrate preference for palmitic acid residues and generates monolysocardiolipin (MLCL) for TAZ1-dependent reacylation with unsaturated fatty acids (PubMed:19244244, PubMed:23637464). The hydrolytic selectivity of the enzyme toward C16-CL substrates contributes to the preservation of C18:1-containing CL species (PubMed:27982579). Has high specificity towards peroxidized cardiolipids CL(OX). Required to mitigate oxidative stress by removing CL(OX) (PubMed:29935382). a cardiolipin + H2O = 1'-[1,2-diacyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho],3'-[1-acyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho]-glycerol + a fatty acid + H(+) Monomer. Expressed in aerobic conditions and under genotoxic stress (PubMed:10601195, PubMed:15878181). Expression is increased during respiratory growth and regulated by the heme activator protein transcriptional activation complex (PubMed:24318983). The HXXXXD motif is essential for acyltransferase activity. Belongs to the peptidase S33 family. ABHD4/ABHD5 subfamily.