CVE-2022-49080

Local memory exhaustion via uninitialized mpol_new reference count

Published Feb 26, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026

Memory leak in mm/mempolicy.c in affected Linux kernel releases allows local users to exhaust memory through concurrent mbind calls. shared_policy_replace allocates mpol_new, drops sp->lock, and can pass the unused object to mpol_put before initializing its reference count, preventing correct release. Triggering the leak requires many processes to update policy on the same shared-memory file during the allocation window, allowing memory exhaustion and service interruption.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.31%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Memory leak in mm/mempolicy.c in affected Linux kernel releases allows local users to exhaust memory through concurrent mbind calls. shared_policy_replace allocates mpol_new, drops sp->lock, and can pass the unused object to mpol_put before initializing its reference count, preventing correct release. Triggering the leak requires many processes to update policy on the same shared-memory file during the allocation window, allowing memory exhaustion and service interruption.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-49080
Published
Feb 26, 2025
Updated
May 11, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-401, T1499.001
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 26, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. May 11, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=3.8
  2. Affected versionversion=42288fe366c4f1ce7522bc9f27d0bc2a81c55264 <198932a14aeb19a15cf19e51e151d023bc4cd648
  3. Affected versionversion=42288fe366c4f1ce7522bc9f27d0bc2a81c55264 <25f506273b6ae806fd46bfcb6fdaa5b9ec81a05b
  4. Affected versionversion=42288fe366c4f1ce7522bc9f27d0bc2a81c55264 <39a32f3c06f6d68a530bf9612afa19f50f12e93d
  5. Affected versionversion=42288fe366c4f1ce7522bc9f27d0bc2a81c55264 <4ad099559b00ac01c3726e5c95dc3108ef47d03e
  6. Affected versionversion=42288fe366c4f1ce7522bc9f27d0bc2a81c55264 <5e16dc5378abd749a836daa9ee4ab2c8d2668999
  7. Affected versionversion=42288fe366c4f1ce7522bc9f27d0bc2a81c55264 <6e00309ac716fa8225f0cbde2cd9c24f0e74ee21
  8. Affected versionversion=42288fe366c4f1ce7522bc9f27d0bc2a81c55264 <8510c2346d9e47a72b7f018a36ef0c39483e53d6
  9. Affected versionversion=42288fe366c4f1ce7522bc9f27d0bc2a81c55264 <f7e183b0a7136b6dc9c7b9b2a85a608a8feba894
  10. Affected versionversion=42288fe366c4f1ce7522bc9f27d0bc2a81c55264 <fe39ac59dbbf893b73b24e3184161d0bd06d6651

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=3.8; version=42288fe366c4f1ce7522bc9f27d0bc2a81c55264 <198932a14aeb19a15cf19e51e151d023bc4cd648; version=42288fe366c4f1ce7522bc9f27d0bc2a81c55264 <25f506273b6ae806fd46bfcb6fdaa5b9ec81a05b; version=42288fe366c4f1ce7522bc9f27d0bc2a81c55264 <39a32f3c06f6d68a530bf9612afa19f50f12e93d; version=42288fe366c4f1ce7522bc9f27d0bc2a81c55264 <4ad099559b00ac01c3726e5c95dc3108ef47d03e; version=42288fe366c4f1ce7522bc9f27d0bc2a81c55264 <5e16dc5378abd749a836daa9ee4ab2c8d2668999; version=42288fe366c4f1ce7522bc9f27d0bc2a81c55264 <6e00309ac716fa8225f0cbde2cd9c24f0e74ee21; version=42288fe366c4f1ce7522bc9f27d0bc2a81c55264 <8510c2346d9e47a72b7f018a36ef0c39483e53d6; version=42288fe366c4f1ce7522bc9f27d0bc2a81c55264 <f7e183b0a7136b6dc9c7b9b2a85a608a8feba894; version=42288fe366c4f1ce7522bc9f27d0bc2a81c55264 <fe39ac59dbbf893b73b24e3184161d0bd06d6651

Published CVSS scores

5.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-401Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime
T1499.001OS Exhaustion Flood

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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