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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2022-50469

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-10-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.15.75 / 5.19.17 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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: staging: rtl8723bs: fix potential memory leak in rtw_init_drv_sw() In rtw_init_drv_sw(), there are various init functions are called to populate the padapter structure and some checks for their return value. However, except for the first one error path, the other five error paths do not properly release the previous allocated resources, which leads to various memory leaks. This patch fixes them and keeps the success and error separate. Note that these changes keep the form of `rtw_init_drv_sw()` in "drivers/staging/r8188eu/os_dep/os_intfs.c". As there is no proper device to test with, no runtime testing was performed.

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-401

Allocated 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
Affected:>= 4.12, < 5.15.75>= 5.16, < 5.19.17>= 6.0, < 6.0.3

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
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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.15.75 / 5.19.17 / 6.0.3 or later
Fixed in 5.15.755.19.176.0.3
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 5.15.75 (or later 5.15.x), 5.19.17 (or later 5.19.x), or 6.0.3 (or later 6.0.x)

  1. 1. Identify the current kernel version using `uname -r` or `cat /proc/version`
  2. 2. Determine which kernel branch is in use (5.15.x, 5.19.x, or 6.0.x)
  3. 3. Upgrade to a fixed kernel version: for 5.15.x branch upgrade to >= 5.15.75, for 5.19.x branch upgrade to >= 5.19.17, or for 6.0.x branch upgrade to >= 6.0.3
  4. 4. Use the distribution's package manager to install the new kernel (e.g., `apt-get update && apt-get install linux-image-<version>` for Debian/Ubuntu, or `yum update kernel` for RHEL/CentOS)
  5. 5. Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  6. 6. Verify the new kernel is running with `uname -r`
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebooting services; ensure compatibility with other system components and drivers before upgrading

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 $1,600. 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-2022-50469 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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