Service interruption via XillyUSB device refcount leak
Published Feb 26, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026
A refcount leak in the XillyUSB driver in Linux allows local users to exhaust kernel resources during USB device cleanup. xillyusb_probe() increments the USB device reference with usb_get_dev(), but cleanup_dev() releases xdev without the matching usb_put_dev(), leaving the device object referenced. Reaching the leak requires low-privilege local access and a probed Xillybus USB FPGA device; repeated cleanup can retain kernel objects and interrupt service.
Summary
What happened
A refcount leak in the XillyUSB driver in Linux allows local users to exhaust kernel resources during USB device cleanup. xillyusb_probe() increments the USB device reference with usb_get_dev(), but cleanup_dev() releases xdev without the matching usb_put_dev(), leaving the device object referenced. Reaching the leak requires low-privilege local access and a probed Xillybus USB FPGA device; repeated cleanup can retain kernel objects and interrupt service.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-49310
- Published
- Feb 26, 2025
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Feb 26, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- 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.
- Affected versionversion=5.14
- Affected versionversion=a53d1202aef122894b6e46116a92174a9123db5d <21f1f167d727f3f857e26d509ef5a6d47fd31bc3
- Affected versionversion=a53d1202aef122894b6e46116a92174a9123db5d <b67d19662fdee275c479d21853bc1239600a798f
- Affected versionversion=a53d1202aef122894b6e46116a92174a9123db5d <bc8fceda3b89006e8a7dda8a097d36045d044c25
- Affected versionversion=a53d1202aef122894b6e46116a92174a9123db5d <e277b95acdab84cd5d2f8d537a37aef6d21e988b
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.
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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