BPF program leak via missing reference release
Published Dec 30, 2025 · Updated Dec 30, 2025
Memory leak in the Linux kernel 6.0 through 6.0.15 and 6.1 through 6.1.1 allows attackers to retain BPF LSM programs after rejected attaches. In kernel/bpf/syscall.c, bpf_prog_attach returns on a BPF_LSM_CGROUP validation failure without calling bpf_prog_put, so the program reference count is not decremented. The public record does not state the required privileges or whether repeated failures cause a hang, crash, or other service interruption.
Summary
What happened
Memory leak in the Linux kernel 6.0 through 6.0.15 and 6.1 through 6.1.1 allows attackers to retain BPF LSM programs after rejected attaches. In kernel/bpf/syscall.c, bpf_prog_attach returns on a BPF_LSM_CGROUP validation failure without calling bpf_prog_put, so the program reference count is not decremented. The public record does not state the required privileges or whether repeated failures cause a hang, crash, or other service interruption.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-50855
- Published
- Dec 30, 2025
- Updated
- Dec 30, 2025
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- Unavailable
- Attack vector
- Unavailable
- Privileges
- Unavailable
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Dec 30, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Dec 30, 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.
- Affected versionversion=6.0
- Affected versionversion=69fd337a975c7e690dfe49d9cb4fe5ba1e6db44e <6a1504dd36cd9a0a69250d61da8bdb17b29f1fe8
- Affected versionversion=69fd337a975c7e690dfe49d9cb4fe5ba1e6db44e <82b39df5ddb298daaf6dc504032ff7eb027fa106
- Affected versionversion=69fd337a975c7e690dfe49d9cb4fe5ba1e6db44e <e89f3edffb860a0f54a9ed16deadb7a4a1fa3862
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
No CVSS assessment is available in this record.
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.
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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