Kernel crash via read-only device reference leak
Published Feb 26, 2025 · Updated Aug 5, 2026
Resource leak in Linux 2.6.25 through 5.16.18 and 5.17 through 5.17.1 allows local users to crash the kernel via a read-only MemoryStick Pro device. The mspro_block_open path increments the gendisk reference before rejecting a write open and returns without releasing that reference when the medium is read-only. Access to /dev/mspblk* and a present write-protected MemoryStick Pro device is required; repeated opens can exhaust resources and, after counter wraparound, expose a use-after-free that can panic the kernel.
Summary
What happened
Resource leak in Linux 2.6.25 through 5.16.18 and 5.17 through 5.17.1 allows local users to crash the kernel via a read-only MemoryStick Pro device. The mspro_block_open path increments the gendisk reference before rejecting a write open and returns without releasing that reference when the medium is read-only. Access to /dev/mspblk* and a present write-protected MemoryStick Pro device is required; repeated opens can exhaust resources and, after counter wraparound, expose a use-after-free that can panic the kernel.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-49178
- Published
- Feb 26, 2025
- Updated
- Aug 5, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-401, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Feb 26, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 5, 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.
- Affected versionversion=2.6.25
- Affected versionversion=baf8532a147d5b76681ce040e2c8f25a3f0e718d <057b53c4f87690d626203acef8b63d52a9bf2f43
- Affected versionversion=baf8532a147d5b76681ce040e2c8f25a3f0e718d <6a0725b9d78ff6efdc95a37e4f05072e79c63918
- Affected versionversion=baf8532a147d5b76681ce040e2c8f25a3f0e718d <6dab421bfe06a59bf8f212a72e34673e8acf2018
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
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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