Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2022-49914
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: fix inode list leak during backref walking at resolve_indirect_refs() During backref walking, at resolve_indirect_refs(), if we get an error we jump to the 'out' label and call ulist_free() on the 'parents' ulist, which frees all the elements in the ulist - however that does not free any inode lists that may be attached to elements, through the 'aux' field of a ulist node, so we end up leaking lists if we have any attached to the unodes. Fix this by calling free_leaf_list() instead of ulist_free() when we exit from resolve_indirect_refs(). The static function free_leaf_list() is moved up for this to be possible and it's slightly simplified by removing unnecessary code.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysisAllocated memory is never released on some path, so a long-running service or a repeatedly triggered request steadily consumes memory until performance degrades or the process crashes. Attackers exploit it by simply driving the leaking path. Remediation is pairing every allocation with a release and using ownership patterns or tooling to catch what leaks.
General guidance for the memory leak class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
>= 3.5, < 4.14.299>= 4.15, < 4.19.265>= 4.20, < 5.4.224>= 5.5, < 5.10.154>= 5.11, < 5.15.78>= 5.16, < 6.0.8= 6.1CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
dbcve · scoped4.14.2994.19.2655.4.224
Upgrade to Linux kernel 4.14.299+, 4.19.265+, 5.4.224+, or 5.10.154+ (or later stable release such as 5.15+, 6.1+, etc.)
- 1. Identify the current running kernel version using 'uname -r'
- 2. Check if the running kernel version falls within any of the affected ranges: >= 3.5 and < 4.14.299, >= 4.15 and < 4.19.265, >= 4.20 and < 5.4.224, or >= 5.5 and < 5.10.154
- 3. If affected, schedule a maintenance window for kernel upgrade
- 4. Upgrade the Linux kernel to a fixed version: 4.14.299+, 4.19.265+, 5.4.224+, or 5.10.154+ (or later stable release)
- 5. Reboot the system to load the new kernel
- 6. Verify the fix commit (2c0329406bb28109c07c6e23e5e3e0fa618a95d7) is included in the new kernel by checking the changelog or kernel config
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-49914 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-49914 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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