CVE-2022-50431

Local service interruption via i2sbus memory leak

Published Oct 1, 2025 · Updated Oct 1, 2025

Memory leak in the ALSA AOA i2sbus driver in Linux allows local users to exhaust kernel memory through failed device registration. During i2sbus_add_dev(), soundbus_add_one() allocates a device name with dev_set_name(), but the error path after of_device_register() fails drops no device reference, preventing kobject_cleanup() from freeing that allocation. Reachability requires the Apple Onboard Audio driver on PowerMac hardware and a device-registration failure; repeated failures are required to interrupt service through memory exhaustion.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.16%
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 ALSA AOA i2sbus driver in Linux allows local users to exhaust kernel memory through failed device registration. During i2sbus_add_dev(), soundbus_add_one() allocates a device name with dev_set_name(), but the error path after of_device_register() fails drops no device reference, preventing kobject_cleanup() from freeing that allocation. Reachability requires the Apple Onboard Audio driver on PowerMac hardware and a device-registration failure; repeated failures are required to interrupt service through memory exhaustion.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-50431
Published
Oct 1, 2025
Updated
Oct 1, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-401, T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 1, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Oct 1, 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=2.6.18
  2. Affected versionversion=f3d9478b2ce468c3115b02ecae7e975990697f15 <027fee10e3a400cf6f3237374a1248da1082807b
  3. Affected versionversion=f3d9478b2ce468c3115b02ecae7e975990697f15 <4a4c8482e370d697738a78dcd7bf2780832cb712
  4. Affected versionversion=f3d9478b2ce468c3115b02ecae7e975990697f15 <5bdea674534153110b90d70b02f2fbaf48b2c0eb
  5. Affected versionversion=f3d9478b2ce468c3115b02ecae7e975990697f15 <802532a50acf501fdafe38a84ca2aa886d68af68
  6. Affected versionversion=f3d9478b2ce468c3115b02ecae7e975990697f15 <c7524279c8ddc7dbf3463bec70e0289097959944
  7. Affected versionversion=f3d9478b2ce468c3115b02ecae7e975990697f15 <ce6fd1c382a38b75557db85a2fe99d285540a03d
  8. Affected versionversion=f3d9478b2ce468c3115b02ecae7e975990697f15 <e81d7826b8f40430a1ea1b330e24d9a9eb4512c4
  9. Affected versionversion=f3d9478b2ce468c3115b02ecae7e975990697f15 <fd410d24665e4efb3c1796797181265efe553e9c

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=2.6.18; version=f3d9478b2ce468c3115b02ecae7e975990697f15 <027fee10e3a400cf6f3237374a1248da1082807b; version=f3d9478b2ce468c3115b02ecae7e975990697f15 <4a4c8482e370d697738a78dcd7bf2780832cb712; version=f3d9478b2ce468c3115b02ecae7e975990697f15 <5bdea674534153110b90d70b02f2fbaf48b2c0eb; version=f3d9478b2ce468c3115b02ecae7e975990697f15 <802532a50acf501fdafe38a84ca2aa886d68af68; version=f3d9478b2ce468c3115b02ecae7e975990697f15 <c7524279c8ddc7dbf3463bec70e0289097959944; version=f3d9478b2ce468c3115b02ecae7e975990697f15 <ce6fd1c382a38b75557db85a2fe99d285540a03d; version=f3d9478b2ce468c3115b02ecae7e975990697f15 <e81d7826b8f40430a1ea1b330e24d9a9eb4512c4; version=f3d9478b2ce468c3115b02ecae7e975990697f15 <fd410d24665e4efb3c1796797181265efe553e9c

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 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 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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