CVE-2022-50396

Local memory exhaustion via leaked traffic-control extensions

Published Sep 18, 2025 · Updated Sep 18, 2025

Memory leak in the Linux kernel allows local users to exhaust memory through crafted traffic-control filter changes. When tcindex_change retrieves old_r from p->perfect, tcindex_set_parms allocates replacement filter results and clears the old result without destroying its tcf_exts structure. The path requires local access capable of issuing rtnetlink traffic-control changes, and repeated changes consume unreleased kernel memory until system availability is degraded.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.17%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Memory leak in the Linux kernel allows local users to exhaust memory through crafted traffic-control filter changes. When tcindex_change retrieves old_r from p->perfect, tcindex_set_parms allocates replacement filter results and clears the old result without destroying its tcf_exts structure. The path requires local access capable of issuing rtnetlink traffic-control changes, and repeated changes consume unreleased kernel memory until system availability is degraded.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-50396
Published
Sep 18, 2025
Updated
Sep 18, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-401, T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 18, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 18, 2025Record 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=4.9
  2. Affected versionversion=b9a24bb76bf611a5268ceffe04219e6ad264559b <399ab7fe0fa0d846881685fd4e57e9a8ef7559f7
  3. Affected versionversion=b9a24bb76bf611a5268ceffe04219e6ad264559b <55ac68b53f1cea1926ee2313afc5d66b91daad71
  4. Affected versionversion=b9a24bb76bf611a5268ceffe04219e6ad264559b <6c55953e232ea668731091d111066521f3b7719b
  5. Affected versionversion=b9a24bb76bf611a5268ceffe04219e6ad264559b <b314f6c3512108d7a656c5caf07c82d1bbbdc0f1
  6. Affected versionversion=b9a24bb76bf611a5268ceffe04219e6ad264559b <c4de6057e7c6654983acb63d939d26ac0d7bbf39
  7. Affected versionversion=b9a24bb76bf611a5268ceffe04219e6ad264559b <facc4405e8b7407e03216207b1d1d640127de0c8

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=4.9; version=b9a24bb76bf611a5268ceffe04219e6ad264559b <399ab7fe0fa0d846881685fd4e57e9a8ef7559f7; version=b9a24bb76bf611a5268ceffe04219e6ad264559b <55ac68b53f1cea1926ee2313afc5d66b91daad71; version=b9a24bb76bf611a5268ceffe04219e6ad264559b <6c55953e232ea668731091d111066521f3b7719b; version=b9a24bb76bf611a5268ceffe04219e6ad264559b <b314f6c3512108d7a656c5caf07c82d1bbbdc0f1; version=b9a24bb76bf611a5268ceffe04219e6ad264559b <c4de6057e7c6654983acb63d939d26ac0d7bbf39; version=b9a24bb76bf611a5268ceffe04219e6ad264559b <facc4405e8b7407e03216207b1d1d640127de0c8

Published CVSS scores

5.5CISACVSS: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

CWE-401Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime
T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

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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