CVE-2022-49648

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tracing/histograms: Fix memory leak problem This reverts commit 46bbe5c671e06f070428b9be142cc4ee5cedebac. As commit 46bbe5c671e0 ("tracing: fix double free") said, the "double free" problem reported by clang static analyzer is: > In parse_var_defs() if there is a problem allocating > var_defs.expr, the earlier var_defs.name is freed. > This free is duplicated by free_var_defs() which frees > the rest of the list. However, if there is a problem allocating N-th var_defs.expr: + in parse_var_defs(), the freed 'earlier var_defs.name' is actually the N-th var_defs.name; + then in free_var_defs(), the names from 0th to (N-1)-th are freed; IF ALLOCATING PROBLEM HAPPENED HERE!!! -+ \ | 0th 1th (N-1)-th N-th V +-------------+-------------+-----+-------------+----------- var_defs: | name | expr | name | expr | ... | name | expr | name | /// +-------------+-------------+-----+-------------+----------- These two frees don't act on same name, so there was no "double free" problem before. Conversely, after that commit, we get a "memory leak" problem because the above "N-th var_defs.name" is not freed. If enable CONFIG_DEBUG_KMEMLEAK and inject a fault at where the N-th var_defs.expr allocated, then execute on shell like: $ echo 'hist:key=call_site:val=$v1,$v2:v1=bytes_req,v2=bytes_alloc' > \ /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/kmem/kmalloc/trigger Then kmemleak reports: unreferenced object 0xffff8fb100ef3518 (size 8): comm "bash", pid 196, jiffies 4295681690 (age 28.538s) hex dump (first 8 bytes): 76 31 00 00 b1 8f ff ff v1...... backtrace: [<0000000038fe4895>] kstrdup+0x2d/0x60 [<00000000c99c049a>] event_hist_trigger_parse+0x206f/0x20e0 [<00000000ae70d2cc>] trigger_process_regex+0xc0/0x110 [<0000000066737a4c>] event_trigger_write+0x75/0xd0 [<000000007341e40c>] vfs_write+0xbb/0x2a0 [<0000000087fde4c2>] ksys_write+0x59/0xd0 [<00000000581e9cdf>] do_syscall_64+0x3a/0x80 [<00000000cf3b065c>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2025-02-26
Last modified 2025-10-01
CVSS version 3.1
Patch available
Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

5.5

out of 10
Medium
Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Vector string
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Weakness type

CWE-401

CVE-2022-49648 is a Memory Leak vulnerability

What is Memory Leak?

The product does not release memory after use, causing gradual resource exhaustion. Learn more on MITRE CWE

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 4.19.149, 5.4.69, 5.8.13, 5.9 and later are affected. Fixed in 4.19.253, 5.4.207, 5.10.132, 5.15.56, 5.18.13, 5.19 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 4.19.149 ≥ 5.4.69 ≥ 5.8.13 ≥ 5.9
Fixed in
✓ 4.19.253 4.19.x ✓ 5.4.207 5.4.x ✓ 5.10.132 5.10.x ✓ 5.15.56 5.15.x ✓ 5.18.13 5.18.x ✓ 5.19

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2022-49648 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Frequently asked questions

  • What is CVE-2022-49648?

    CVE-2022-49648 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 , classified as a Memory Leak flaw (CWE-401) . It affects Linux kernel versions from 4.19.149 onward and has been patched in 4.19.253, 5.4.207, 5.10.132 and others. CVE-2022-49648 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • What is the CVSS score for CVE-2022-49648?

    CVE-2022-49648 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H .

  • Is there a patch available for CVE-2022-49648?

    Yes — CVE-2022-49648 has been patched. Fixed versions include 4.19.253, 5.4.207, 5.10.132 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 4.19.149 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2022-49648 actively exploited?

    No — CVE-2022-49648 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.

  • What is Memory Leak (CWE-401)?

    The product does not release memory after use, causing gradual resource exhaustion. View CWE-401 on MITRE CWE →