Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2022-50531
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: tipc: fix an information leak in tipc_topsrv_kern_subscr Use a 8-byte write to initialize sub.usr_handle in tipc_topsrv_kern_subscr(), otherwise four bytes remain uninitialized when issuing setsockopt(..., SOL_TIPC, ...). This resulted in an infoleak reported by KMSAN when the packet was received: ===================================================== BUG: KMSAN: kernel-infoleak in copyout+0xbc/0x100 lib/iov_iter.c:169 instrument_copy_to_user ./include/linux/instrumented.h:121 copyout+0xbc/0x100 lib/iov_iter.c:169 _copy_to_iter+0x5c0/0x20a0 lib/iov_iter.c:527 copy_to_iter ./include/linux/uio.h:176 simple_copy_to_iter+0x64/0xa0 net/core/datagram.c:513 __skb_datagram_iter+0x123/0xdc0 net/core/datagram.c:419 skb_copy_datagram_iter+0x58/0x200 net/core/datagram.c:527 skb_copy_datagram_msg ./include/linux/skbuff.h:3903 packet_recvmsg+0x521/0x1e70 net/packet/af_packet.c:3469 ____sys_recvmsg+0x2c4/0x810 net/socket.c:? ___sys_recvmsg+0x217/0x840 net/socket.c:2743 __sys_recvmsg net/socket.c:2773 __do_sys_recvmsg net/socket.c:2783 __se_sys_recvmsg net/socket.c:2780 __x64_sys_recvmsg+0x364/0x540 net/socket.c:2780 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 do_syscall_64+0x3d/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:120 ... Uninit was stored to memory at: tipc_sub_subscribe+0x42d/0xb50 net/tipc/subscr.c:156 tipc_conn_rcv_sub+0x246/0x620 net/tipc/topsrv.c:375 tipc_topsrv_kern_subscr+0x2e8/0x400 net/tipc/topsrv.c:579 tipc_group_create+0x4e7/0x7d0 net/tipc/group.c:190 tipc_sk_join+0x2a8/0x770 net/tipc/socket.c:3084 tipc_setsockopt+0xae5/0xe40 net/tipc/socket.c:3201 __sys_setsockopt+0x87f/0xdc0 net/socket.c:2252 __do_sys_setsockopt net/socket.c:2263 __se_sys_setsockopt net/socket.c:2260 __x64_sys_setsockopt+0xe0/0x160 net/socket.c:2260 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 do_syscall_64+0x3d/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:120 Local variable sub created at: tipc_topsrv_kern_subscr+0x57/0x400 net/tipc/topsrv.c:562 tipc_group_create+0x4e7/0x7d0 net/tipc/group.c:190 Bytes 84-87 of 88 are uninitialized Memory access of size 88 starts at ffff88801ed57cd0 Data copied to user address 0000000020000400 ... =====================================================
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
>= 4.17, < 4.19.264>= 4.20, < 5.4.221>= 5.5, < 5.10.152>= 5.11, < 5.15.76>= 5.16, < 6.0.6= 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 · scoped4.19.2645.4.2215.10.152
Upgrade to kernel version >=4.19.264 (for 4.17-4.19.x), >=5.4.221 (for 4.20-5.4.x), >=5.10.152 (for 5.5-5.10.x), or >=5.15.76 (for 5.11-5.15.x)
- Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using 'uname -r'
- Determine which affected branch your kernel version belongs to (4.17-4.19.x, 4.20-5.4.x, 5.5-5.10.x, or 5.11-5.15.x)
- Upgrade the kernel to the first fixed version in your branch: for 4.17-4.19.x upgrade to >=4.19.264, for 4.20-5.4.x upgrade to >=5.4.221, for 5.5-5.10.x upgrade to >=5.10.152, or for 5.11-5.15.x upgrade to >=5.15.76
- Update boot loader configuration (e.g., GRUB) if necessary to ensure the new kernel is selected on next boot
- Reboot the system to apply the kernel upgrade
- Verify the new kernel version is running with 'uname -r'
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-2022-50531 — 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-2022-50531 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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