CVE-2022-50188

Service interruption via HDMI device reference leak

Published Jun 18, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026

Reference-count leak in Linux kernel 5.17 allows local users to exhaust device references through a Meson HDMI initialization error. The meson_encoder_hdmi_init error path retains the reference returned by of_find_device_by_node instead of releasing it with put_device. Reachability requires the Meson DRM HDMI initialization error path; public records do not establish attacker control or a specific crash condition.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.22%
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 Linux kernel 5.17 allows local users to exhaust device references through a Meson HDMI initialization error. The meson_encoder_hdmi_init error path retains the reference returned by of_find_device_by_node instead of releasing it with put_device. Reachability requires the Meson DRM HDMI initialization error path; public records do not establish attacker control or a specific crash condition.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-50188
Published
Jun 18, 2025
Updated
May 11, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
Unavailable
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=0af5e0b41110e2da872030395231ab19c45be931 <7381076809586528e2a812a709e2758916318a99
  2. Affected versionversion=0af5e0b41110e2da872030395231ab19c45be931 <79b15eb0aa059b3a5bc60364ce82eb2cefac80db
  3. Affected versionversion=0af5e0b41110e2da872030395231ab19c45be931 <bfcca6234b2a36d213f0cc1c127becc17680f7df
  4. Affected versionversion=5.17
  5. Affected versionversion=e098989a9219f4456047f9b0e8c44f03e29a843e <50446ac34545580d073ff0dd154b796726772668

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=0af5e0b41110e2da872030395231ab19c45be931 <7381076809586528e2a812a709e2758916318a99; version=0af5e0b41110e2da872030395231ab19c45be931 <79b15eb0aa059b3a5bc60364ce82eb2cefac80db; version=0af5e0b41110e2da872030395231ab19c45be931 <bfcca6234b2a36d213f0cc1c127becc17680f7df; version=5.17; version=e098989a9219f4456047f9b0e8c44f03e29a843e <50446ac34545580d073ff0dd154b796726772668

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

No sourced classifications are available.

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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