CVE-2022-50017

Service interrupt via unreleased device-tree reference

Published Jun 18, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026

Reference-count leak in the Linux kernel allows local users to cause a service interrupt through Cavium Octeon USB clock startup. The octeon2_usb_clocks_start function obtains uctl_node with of_get_parent(), which increments its reference count, but fails to release it with of_node_put(). Reachability requires low-privilege local access to a MIPS Cavium Octeon system exercising this hardware-specific path; retained references can exhaust kernel resources and interrupt service.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.18%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Reference-count leak in the Linux kernel allows local users to cause a service interrupt through Cavium Octeon USB clock startup. The octeon2_usb_clocks_start function obtains uctl_node with of_get_parent(), which increments its reference count, but fails to release it with of_node_put(). Reachability requires low-privilege local access to a MIPS Cavium Octeon system exercising this hardware-specific path; retained references can exhaust kernel resources and interrupt service.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-50017
Published
Jun 18, 2025
Updated
May 11, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jun 18, 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=4.0
  2. Affected versionversion=a95cfa6b86a19a822877e75d5a73b2a95d249e70 <1b49707df679b5510ed06ace7378ddc2aec5c3fb
  3. Affected versionversion=a95cfa6b86a19a822877e75d5a73b2a95d249e70 <1e39037e44d7fa3728686af146f9285ea197097d
  4. Affected versionversion=a95cfa6b86a19a822877e75d5a73b2a95d249e70 <7822d994eb9579a1df4cdbc315db090a041e50f3
  5. Affected versionversion=a95cfa6b86a19a822877e75d5a73b2a95d249e70 <7a9f743ceead60ed454c46fbc3085ee9a79cbebb
  6. Affected versionversion=a95cfa6b86a19a822877e75d5a73b2a95d249e70 <9d1afa0169a84dcd5b79901d792edeb8403684ab
  7. Affected versionversion=a95cfa6b86a19a822877e75d5a73b2a95d249e70 <a80016c40cc797c7f3e5a705b8e12ae447280335
  8. Affected versionversion=a95cfa6b86a19a822877e75d5a73b2a95d249e70 <af87a469695dc2b2419b2fdff0bf41db5265b325
  9. Affected versionversion=a95cfa6b86a19a822877e75d5a73b2a95d249e70 <c06166a484eece51916dd700a870e53356b7e1bc

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=4.0; version=a95cfa6b86a19a822877e75d5a73b2a95d249e70 <1b49707df679b5510ed06ace7378ddc2aec5c3fb; version=a95cfa6b86a19a822877e75d5a73b2a95d249e70 <1e39037e44d7fa3728686af146f9285ea197097d; version=a95cfa6b86a19a822877e75d5a73b2a95d249e70 <7822d994eb9579a1df4cdbc315db090a041e50f3; version=a95cfa6b86a19a822877e75d5a73b2a95d249e70 <7a9f743ceead60ed454c46fbc3085ee9a79cbebb; version=a95cfa6b86a19a822877e75d5a73b2a95d249e70 <9d1afa0169a84dcd5b79901d792edeb8403684ab; version=a95cfa6b86a19a822877e75d5a73b2a95d249e70 <a80016c40cc797c7f3e5a705b8e12ae447280335; version=a95cfa6b86a19a822877e75d5a73b2a95d249e70 <af87a469695dc2b2419b2fdff0bf41db5265b325; version=a95cfa6b86a19a822877e75d5a73b2a95d249e70 <c06166a484eece51916dd700a870e53356b7e1bc

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 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

T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

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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