CVE-2022-50545

Local service interruption via PHY reference leak

Published Oct 7, 2025 · Updated Oct 7, 2025

Memory leak in the Linux kernel r6040 driver allows local users to interrupt service through kernel memory exhaustion on affected systems. The removal and failed-probe paths free the MII bus without disconnecting the first attached PHY, leaving its final reference and allocation unreleased. The flaw is reached when device removal or failed initialization follows a successful PHY connection, and accumulated leaks can interrupt the host.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.21%
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 r6040 driver allows local users to interrupt service through kernel memory exhaustion on affected systems. The removal and failed-probe paths free the MII bus without disconnecting the first attached PHY, leaving its final reference and allocation unreleased. The flaw is reached when device removal or failed initialization follows a successful PHY connection, and accumulated leaks can interrupt the host.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-50545
Published
Oct 7, 2025
Updated
Oct 7, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-401, T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 7, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Oct 7, 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=2.6.36
  2. Affected versionversion=3831861b4ad8fd0ad7110048eb3e155628799d2b <2ce242e1b9ad31c1f68496b3548e407a8cb2c07d
  3. Affected versionversion=3831861b4ad8fd0ad7110048eb3e155628799d2b <3d5f83a62e8235d235534b3dc6f197d8a822c269
  4. Affected versionversion=3831861b4ad8fd0ad7110048eb3e155628799d2b <5944c25c67de54e0aa53623e1e1af3bf8b16ed44
  5. Affected versionversion=3831861b4ad8fd0ad7110048eb3e155628799d2b <7e43039a49c2da45edc1d9d7c9ede4003ab45a5f
  6. Affected versionversion=3831861b4ad8fd0ad7110048eb3e155628799d2b <9b5b50329e2e966831a7237dd6949e7b5362a49a
  7. Affected versionversion=3831861b4ad8fd0ad7110048eb3e155628799d2b <a04707f4596952049da05756c27398c34d9a1d36
  8. Affected versionversion=3831861b4ad8fd0ad7110048eb3e155628799d2b <ad2c8f25457ca9a81e7e958148cbc26600ce3071
  9. Affected versionversion=3831861b4ad8fd0ad7110048eb3e155628799d2b <b0a61359026b57a287a48fbb4ba1d097023eca3e
  10. Affected versionversion=3831861b4ad8fd0ad7110048eb3e155628799d2b <b4448816e6a565e08236a6009c6bf48c6836cdfd

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=2.6.36; version=3831861b4ad8fd0ad7110048eb3e155628799d2b <2ce242e1b9ad31c1f68496b3548e407a8cb2c07d; version=3831861b4ad8fd0ad7110048eb3e155628799d2b <3d5f83a62e8235d235534b3dc6f197d8a822c269; version=3831861b4ad8fd0ad7110048eb3e155628799d2b <5944c25c67de54e0aa53623e1e1af3bf8b16ed44; version=3831861b4ad8fd0ad7110048eb3e155628799d2b <7e43039a49c2da45edc1d9d7c9ede4003ab45a5f; version=3831861b4ad8fd0ad7110048eb3e155628799d2b <9b5b50329e2e966831a7237dd6949e7b5362a49a; version=3831861b4ad8fd0ad7110048eb3e155628799d2b <a04707f4596952049da05756c27398c34d9a1d36; version=3831861b4ad8fd0ad7110048eb3e155628799d2b <ad2c8f25457ca9a81e7e958148cbc26600ce3071; version=3831861b4ad8fd0ad7110048eb3e155628799d2b <b0a61359026b57a287a48fbb4ba1d097023eca3e; version=3831861b4ad8fd0ad7110048eb3e155628799d2b <b4448816e6a565e08236a6009c6bf48c6836cdfd

Published CVSS scores

5.5NVDCVSS: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
T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

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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