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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2022-50401

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.5 / 4.9.337 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click Patch available

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 · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nfsd: under NFSv4.1, fix double svc_xprt_put on rpc_create failure On error situation `clp->cl_cb_conn.cb_xprt` should not be given a reference to the xprt otherwise both client cleanup and the error handling path of the caller call to put it. Better to delay handing over the reference to a later branch. [ 72.530665] refcount_t: underflow; use-after-free. [ 72.531933] WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 173 at lib/refcount.c:28 refcount_warn_saturate+0xcf/0x120 [ 72.533075] Modules linked in: nfsd(OE) nfsv4(OE) nfsv3(OE) nfs(OE) lockd(OE) compat_nfs_ssc(OE) nfs_acl(OE) rpcsec_gss_krb5(OE) auth_rpcgss(OE) rpcrdma(OE) dns_resolver fscache netfs grace rdma_cm iw_cm ib_cm sunrpc(OE) mlx5_ib mlx5_core mlxfw pci_hyperv_intf ib_uverbs ib_core xt_MASQUERADE nf_conntrack_netlink nft_counter xt_addrtype nft_compat br_netfilter bridge stp llc nft_reject_inet nf_reject_ipv4 nf_reject_ipv6 nft_reject nft_ct nft_chain_nat nf_nat nf_conntrack nf_defrag_ipv6 nf_defrag_ipv4 ip_set overlay nf_tables nfnetlink crct10dif_pclmul crc32_pclmul ghash_clmulni_intel xfs serio_raw virtio_net virtio_blk net_failover failover fuse [last unloaded: sunrpc] [ 72.540389] CPU: 0 PID: 173 Comm: kworker/u16:5 Tainted: G OE 5.15.82-dan #1 [ 72.541511] Hardware name: Red Hat KVM/RHEL-AV, BIOS 1.16.0-3.module+el8.7.0+1084+97b81f61 04/01/2014 [ 72.542717] Workqueue: nfsd4_callbacks nfsd4_run_cb_work [nfsd] [ 72.543575] RIP: 0010:refcount_warn_saturate+0xcf/0x120 [ 72.544299] Code: 55 00 0f 0b 5d e9 01 50 98 00 80 3d 75 9e 39 08 00 0f 85 74 ff ff ff 48 c7 c7 e8 d1 60 8e c6 05 61 9e 39 08 01 e8 f6 51 55 00 <0f> 0b 5d e9 d9 4f 98 00 80 3d 4b 9e 39 08 00 0f 85 4c ff ff ff 48 [ 72.546666] RSP: 0018:ffffb3f841157cf0 EFLAGS: 00010286 [ 72.547393] RAX: 0000000000000026 RBX: ffff89ac6231d478 RCX: 0000000000000000 [ 72.548324] RDX: ffff89adb7c2c2c0 RSI: ffff89adb7c205c0 RDI: ffff89adb7c205c0 [ 72.549271] RBP: ffffb3f841157cf0 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: c0000000ffefffff [ 72.550209] R10: 0000000000000001 R11: ffffb3f841157ad0 R12: ffff89ac6231d180 [ 72.551142] R13: ffff89ac6231d478 R14: ffff89ac40c06180 R15: ffff89ac6231d4b0 [ 72.552089] FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff89adb7c00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 72.553175] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 72.553934] CR2: 0000563a310506a8 CR3: 0000000109a66000 CR4: 0000000000350ef0 [ 72.554874] Call Trace: [ 72.555278] <TASK> [ 72.555614] svc_xprt_put+0xaf/0xe0 [sunrpc] [ 72.556276] nfsd4_process_cb_update.isra.11+0xb7/0x410 [nfsd] [ 72.557087] ? update_load_avg+0x82/0x610 [ 72.557652] ? cpuacct_charge+0x60/0x70 [ 72.558212] ? dequeue_entity+0xdb/0x3e0 [ 72.558765] ? queued_spin_unlock+0x9/0x20 [ 72.559358] nfsd4_run_cb_work+0xfc/0x270 [nfsd] [ 72.560031] process_one_work+0x1df/0x390 [ 72.560600] worker_thread+0x37/0x3b0 [ 72.561644] ? process_one_work+0x390/0x390 [ 72.562247] kthread+0x12f/0x150 [ 72.562710] ? set_kthread_struct+0x50/0x50 [ 72.563309] ret_from_fork+0x22/0x30 [ 72.563818] </TASK> [ 72.564189] ---[ end trace 031117b1c72ec616 ]--- [ 72.566019] list_add corruption. next->prev should be prev (ffff89ac4977e538), but was ffff89ac4763e018. (next=ffff89ac4763e018). [ 72.567647] ------------[ cut here ]------------

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 analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-415

The same block of memory is freed twice, corrupting the allocator's bookkeeping in ways an attacker can shape toward code execution. It usually stems from tangled ownership of a pointer. The fix is clear, single ownership of each allocation and clearing pointers once they are freed.

General guidance for the double free 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
Affected:>= 4.4.229, < 4.5>= 4.9.229, < 4.9.337>= 4.14.186, < 4.14.303>= 4.19.130, < 4.19.270>= 5.4.49, < 5.4.229>= 5.7.6, < 5.10.163>= 5.11, < 5.15.86>= 5.16, < 6.0.16>= 6.1, < 6.1.2

CVSS 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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 4.5 / 4.9.337 / 4.14.303 or later
Fixed in 4.54.9.3374.14.303
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to one of: 4.5+ (4.4.x branch), 4.9.337+ (4.9.x branch), 4.14.303+ (4.14.x branch), 4.19.270+ (4.19.x branch)

  1. Identify your current kernel version using `uname -r` or `cat /proc/version`
  2. Determine which version branch your kernel belongs to (4.4.x, 4.9.x, 4.14.x, or 4.19.x)
  3. For 4.4.x branch: upgrade to kernel 4.5 or later (or apply the stable patch commit 15fc60aa5bdcf6d5f93000d3d00579fc67632ee0)
  4. For 4.9.x branch: upgrade to kernel 4.9.337 or later
  5. For 4.14.x branch: upgrade to kernel 4.14.303 or later
  6. For 4.19.x branch: upgrade to kernel 4.19.270 or later
  7. Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  8. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version matches the fixed releases above
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebuild of out-of-tree modules; ensure compatible drivers/modules are available for the target version

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,950. Get the upgrade done

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-50401 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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