CVE-2022-50667

Local denial of service via ioctl memory leak

Published Dec 9, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026

Memory leakage in the Linux kernel vmwgfx driver allows local users to exhaust kernel memory by making a description copy fail. The vmw_mksstat_add_ioctl() error path returns -EFAULT without freeing the instance-descriptor page allocated before copying the userspace string. Low-privilege local access to the vmwgfx ioctl is required; repeated failures consume kernel memory and can interrupt service without reading or altering data.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.24%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Memory leakage in the Linux kernel vmwgfx driver allows local users to exhaust kernel memory by making a description copy fail. The vmw_mksstat_add_ioctl() error path returns -EFAULT without freeing the instance-descriptor page allocated before copying the userspace string. Low-privilege local access to the vmwgfx ioctl is required; repeated failures consume kernel memory and can interrupt service without reading or altering data.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-50667
Published
Dec 9, 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. Dec 9, 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=5.15
  2. Affected versionversion=7a7a933edd6c3a6d5d64e08093f2d564104cefcd <53066b144715332ce9370143c33c50d9a4d3e809
  3. Affected versionversion=7a7a933edd6c3a6d5d64e08093f2d564104cefcd <6ad40bbb2c25f17b899fcea114ebc0a46d8a938b
  4. Affected versionversion=7a7a933edd6c3a6d5d64e08093f2d564104cefcd <a40c7f61d12fbd1e785e59140b9efd57127c0c33
  5. Affected versionversion=7a7a933edd6c3a6d5d64e08093f2d564104cefcd <b47a37ad4a444d82f9caf153a79d090b79786ebb

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=5.15; version=7a7a933edd6c3a6d5d64e08093f2d564104cefcd <53066b144715332ce9370143c33c50d9a4d3e809; version=7a7a933edd6c3a6d5d64e08093f2d564104cefcd <6ad40bbb2c25f17b899fcea114ebc0a46d8a938b; version=7a7a933edd6c3a6d5d64e08093f2d564104cefcd <a40c7f61d12fbd1e785e59140b9efd57127c0c33; version=7a7a933edd6c3a6d5d64e08093f2d564104cefcd <b47a37ad4a444d82f9caf153a79d090b79786ebb

Published CVSS scores

5.5SUSECVSS: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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