CVE-2022-50396

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: sched: fix memory leak in tcindex_set_parms Syzkaller reports a memory leak as follows: ==================================== BUG: memory leak unreferenced object 0xffff88810c287f00 (size 256): comm "syz-executor105", pid 3600, jiffies 4294943292 (age 12.990s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ backtrace: [<ffffffff814cf9f0>] kmalloc_trace+0x20/0x90 mm/slab_common.c:1046 [<ffffffff839c9e07>] kmalloc include/linux/slab.h:576 [inline] [<ffffffff839c9e07>] kmalloc_array include/linux/slab.h:627 [inline] [<ffffffff839c9e07>] kcalloc include/linux/slab.h:659 [inline] [<ffffffff839c9e07>] tcf_exts_init include/net/pkt_cls.h:250 [inline] [<ffffffff839c9e07>] tcindex_set_parms+0xa7/0xbe0 net/sched/cls_tcindex.c:342 [<ffffffff839caa1f>] tcindex_change+0xdf/0x120 net/sched/cls_tcindex.c:553 [<ffffffff8394db62>] tc_new_tfilter+0x4f2/0x1100 net/sched/cls_api.c:2147 [<ffffffff8389e91c>] rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x4dc/0x5d0 net/core/rtnetlink.c:6082 [<ffffffff839eba67>] netlink_rcv_skb+0x87/0x1d0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2540 [<ffffffff839eab87>] netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1319 [inline] [<ffffffff839eab87>] netlink_unicast+0x397/0x4c0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1345 [<ffffffff839eb046>] netlink_sendmsg+0x396/0x710 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1921 [<ffffffff8383e796>] sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:714 [inline] [<ffffffff8383e796>] sock_sendmsg+0x56/0x80 net/socket.c:734 [<ffffffff8383eb08>] ____sys_sendmsg+0x178/0x410 net/socket.c:2482 [<ffffffff83843678>] ___sys_sendmsg+0xa8/0x110 net/socket.c:2536 [<ffffffff838439c5>] __sys_sendmmsg+0x105/0x330 net/socket.c:2622 [<ffffffff83843c14>] __do_sys_sendmmsg net/socket.c:2651 [inline] [<ffffffff83843c14>] __se_sys_sendmmsg net/socket.c:2648 [inline] [<ffffffff83843c14>] __x64_sys_sendmmsg+0x24/0x30 net/socket.c:2648 [<ffffffff84605fd5>] do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] [<ffffffff84605fd5>] do_syscall_64+0x35/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 [<ffffffff84800087>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd ==================================== Kernel uses tcindex_change() to change an existing filter properties. Yet the problem is that, during the process of changing, if `old_r` is retrieved from `p->perfect`, then kernel uses tcindex_alloc_perfect_hash() to newly allocate filter results, uses tcindex_filter_result_init() to clear the old filter result, without destroying its tcf_exts structure, which triggers the above memory leak. To be more specific, there are only two source for the `old_r`, according to the tcindex_lookup(). `old_r` is retrieved from `p->perfect`, or `old_r` is retrieved from `p->h`. * If `old_r` is retrieved from `p->perfect`, kernel uses tcindex_alloc_perfect_hash() to newly allocate the filter results. Then `r` is assigned with `cp->perfect + handle`, which is newly allocated. So condition `old_r && old_r != r` is true in this situation, and kernel uses tcindex_filter_result_init() to clear the old filter result, without destroying its tcf_exts structure * If `old_r` is retrieved from `p->h`, then `p->perfect` is NULL according to the tcindex_lookup(). Considering that `cp->h` is directly copied from `p->h` and `p->perfect` is NULL, `r` is assigned with `tcindex_lookup(cp, handle)`, whose value should be the same as `old_r`, so condition `old_r && old_r != r` is false in this situation, kernel ignores using tcindex_filter_result_init() to clear the old filter result. So only when `old_r` is retrieved from `p->perfect` does kernel use tcindex_filter_result_init() to clear the old filter result, which triggers the above memory leak. Considering that there already exists a tc_filter_wq workqueue to destroy the old tcindex_d ---truncated---

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2025-09-18
Last modified 2026-01-14
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-2022-50396 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 4.9 and later are affected. Fixed in 4.14.308, 4.19.276, 5.4.229, 5.4.235, 5.10.163, 5.10.173, 5.15.87, 5.15.100, 6.0.19, 6.1.5, 6.1.18, 6.2.5, 6.2 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 4.9
Fixed in
✓ 4.14.308 4.14.x ✓ 4.19.276 4.19.x ✓ 5.4.229 5.4.x ✓ 5.4.235 5.4.x ✓ 5.10.163 5.10.x ✓ 5.10.173 5.10.x ✓ 5.15.87 5.15.x ✓ 5.15.100 5.15.x ✓ 6.0.19 6.0.x ✓ 6.1.5 6.1.x ✓ 6.1.18 6.1.x ✓ 6.2.5 6.2.x ✓ 6.2

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2022-50396 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-2022-50396?

    CVE-2022-50396 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 4.9 onward and has been patched in 4.14.308, 4.19.276, 5.4.229 and others. CVE-2022-50396 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • What is the CVSS score for CVE-2022-50396?

    CVE-2022-50396 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-2022-50396?

    Yes — CVE-2022-50396 has been patched. Fixed versions include 4.14.308, 4.19.276, 5.4.229 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 4.9 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2022-50396 actively exploited?

    No — CVE-2022-50396 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 →