CVE-2022-50446

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ARC: mm: fix leakage of memory allocated for PTE Since commit d9820ff ("ARC: mm: switch pgtable_t back to struct page *") a memory leakage problem occurs. Memory allocated for page table entries not released during process termination. This issue can be reproduced by a small program that allocates a large amount of memory. After several runs, you'll see that the amount of free memory has reduced and will continue to reduce after each run. All ARC CPUs are effected by this issue. The issue was introduced since the kernel stable release v5.15-rc1. As described in commit d9820ff after switch pgtable_t back to struct page *, a pointer to "struct page" and appropriate functions are used to allocate and free a memory page for PTEs, but the pmd_pgtable macro hasn't changed and returns the direct virtual address from the PMD (PGD) entry. Than this address used as a parameter in the __pte_free() and as a result this function couldn't release memory page allocated for PTEs. Fix this issue by changing the pmd_pgtable macro and returning pointer to struct page.

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2025-10-01
Last modified 2026-01-16
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-2022-50446 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 5.15 and later are affected. Fixed in 5.15.77, 6.0.7, 6.1 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 5.15
Fixed in
✓ 5.15.77 5.15.x ✓ 6.0.7 6.0.x ✓ 6.1

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2022-50446 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-2022-50446?

    CVE-2022-50446 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 5.15 onward and has been patched in 5.15.77, 6.0.7 and 6.1. CVE-2022-50446 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • What is the CVSS score for CVE-2022-50446?

    CVE-2022-50446 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-2022-50446?

    Yes — CVE-2022-50446 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.15.77, 6.0.7 and 6.1. If you are running Linux kernel 5.15 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2022-50446 actively exploited?

    No — CVE-2022-50446 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 →

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