Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2022-50201
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: selinux: fix memleak in security_read_state_kernel() In this function, it directly returns the result of __security_read_policy without freeing the allocated memory in *data, cause memory leak issue, so free the memory if __security_read_policy failed. [PM: subject line tweak]
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
>= 5.12, < 5.15.61>= 5.16, < 5.18.18>= 5.19, < 5.19.2CVSS 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 · scoped5.15.615.18.185.19.2
Upgrade to Linux kernel 5.15.61+, 5.18.18+, or 5.19.2+ (or any later stable release)
- Check current kernel version using 'uname -r'
- Identify the appropriate upgrade path based on your current kernel branch (5.12-5.15.x, 5.16-5.18.x, or 5.19.x)
- Upgrade to kernel version 5.15.61 or later (for 5.12-5.15.x branch), 5.18.18 or later (for 5.16-5.18.x branch), or 5.19.2 or later (for 5.19.x branch)
- Alternatively, apply the vendor patch commit 1fc1f72aad2070d34022d0823e4cf09706b53f25 to the kernel source and rebuild
- Verify the fix is applied by checking the security_read_state_kernel function includes memory free logic on __security_read_policy failure
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-2022-50201 — 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-2022-50201 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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