CVE-2022-49468

Service interruption via leaked thermal sysfs allocations

Published Feb 26, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026

A memory leak in the Linux kernel thermal core allows local users to exhaust memory through failed cooling-device registration. The registration failure path retains memory allocated by thermal_cooling_device_setup_sysfs because it omits thermal_cooling_device_destroy_sysfs after device_register fails. Exploitation requires local access and a reachable registration failure; repeated failures consume kernel memory and can interrupt service.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.32%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

A memory leak in the Linux kernel thermal core allows local users to exhaust memory through failed cooling-device registration. The registration failure path retains memory allocated by thermal_cooling_device_setup_sysfs because it omits thermal_cooling_device_destroy_sysfs after device_register fails. Exploitation requires local access and a reachable registration failure; repeated failures consume kernel memory and can interrupt service.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-49468
Published
Feb 26, 2025
Updated
May 11, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
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

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=4.17
  2. Affected versionversion=8ea229511e06f9635ecc338dcbe0db41a73623f0 <18530bedd221160823f63ccc20dd55c7a03edbcf
  3. Affected versionversion=8ea229511e06f9635ecc338dcbe0db41a73623f0 <21ccc58b671aea924f2481cf5c1cf0ebbfd3552d
  4. Affected versionversion=8ea229511e06f9635ecc338dcbe0db41a73623f0 <3802171f0b5b8b831f4ade5c827547cb323a5bb2
  5. Affected versionversion=8ea229511e06f9635ecc338dcbe0db41a73623f0 <98a160e898c0f4a979af9de3ab48b4b1d42d1dbb
  6. Affected versionversion=8ea229511e06f9635ecc338dcbe0db41a73623f0 <9abdf0c0184230f0cb5c6685aabf33dda89aa9fb

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=4.17; version=8ea229511e06f9635ecc338dcbe0db41a73623f0 <18530bedd221160823f63ccc20dd55c7a03edbcf; version=8ea229511e06f9635ecc338dcbe0db41a73623f0 <21ccc58b671aea924f2481cf5c1cf0ebbfd3552d; version=8ea229511e06f9635ecc338dcbe0db41a73623f0 <3802171f0b5b8b831f4ade5c827547cb323a5bb2; version=8ea229511e06f9635ecc338dcbe0db41a73623f0 <98a160e898c0f4a979af9de3ab48b4b1d42d1dbb; version=8ea229511e06f9635ecc338dcbe0db41a73623f0 <9abdf0c0184230f0cb5c6685aabf33dda89aa9fb

Published CVSS scores

5.5CISA-ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1499.001OS Exhaustion Flood

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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