Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2022-50520

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-10-07
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.3 / 3.5 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: drm/radeon: Fix PCI device refcount leak in radeon_atrm_get_bios() As comment of pci_get_class() says, it returns a pci_device with its refcount increased and decreased the refcount for the input parameter @from if it is not NULL. If we break the loop in radeon_atrm_get_bios() with 'pdev' not NULL, we need to call pci_dev_put() to decrease the refcount. Add the missing pci_dev_put() to avoid refcount leak.

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

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

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:>= 3.2.29, < 3.3>= 3.2.60, < 3.3>= 3.4.12, < 3.5>= 3.5.5, < 3.6>= 3.6.1, < 4.9.337>= 4.10, < 4.14.303>= 4.15, < 4.19.270>= 4.20, < 5.4.229>= 5.5, < 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
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 3.3 / 3.5 / 3.6 or later
Fixed in 3.33.53.6
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux kernel 3.3, 3.5, or 3.6 (depending on which version branch you're on)

  1. Apply the vendor patch commit 1079df6acf56f99d86b0081a38c84701412cc90e to the Linux kernel source tree
  2. The patch adds a missing pci_dev_put() call in the radeon_atrm_get_bios() function to properly decrement the PCI device refcount when breaking out of the loop
  3. Rebuild the kernel with the fix applied
  4. Reboot into the patched kernel
Caveat Kernel upgrades may introduce changes to drivers, APIs, or kernel configuration options; ensure compatibility with system hardware and required modules 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-2022-50520 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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