Linux Kernel up to 5.15.82/6.0.12 drivers/base/core.c gpiochip_setup_dev memory leak

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.82/6.0.12. It has been classified as critical. The impacted element is the function gpiochip_setup_dev of the file drivers/base/core.c. The manipulation leads to memory leak. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2022-48975. There is not any exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.82/6.0.12. It has been rated as critical. This issue affects the function gpiochip_setup_dev of the file drivers/base/core.c. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a memory leak vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-401. The product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, which slowly consumes remaining memory. Impacted is availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: gpiolib: fix memory leak in gpiochip_setup_dev() Here is a backtrace report about memory leak detected in gpiochip_setup_dev(): unreferenced object 0xffff88810b406400 (size 512): comm "python3", pid 1682, jiffies 4295346908 (age 24.090s) backtrace: kmalloc_trace device_add device_private_init at drivers/base/core.c:3361 (inlined by) device_add at drivers/base/core.c:3411 cdev_device_add gpiolib_cdev_register gpiochip_setup_dev gpiochip_add_data_with_key gcdev_register() & gcdev_unregister() would call device_add() & device_del() (no matter CONFIG_GPIO_CDEV is enabled or not) to register/unregister device. However, if device_add() succeeds, some resource (like struct device_private allocated by device_private_init()) is not released by device_del(). Therefore, after device_add() succeeds by gcdev_register(), it needs to call put_device() to release resource in the error handle path. Here we move forward the register of release function, and let it release every piece of resource by put_device() instead of kfree(). While at it, fix another subtle issue, i.e. when gc->ngpio is equal to 0, we still call kcalloc() and, in case of further error, kfree() on the ZERO_PTR pointer, which is not NULL. It's not a bug per se, but rather waste of the resources and potentially wrong expectation about contents of the gdev->descs variable.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2022-48975 since 08/22/2024. The exploitation is known to be difficult. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 216030 (EulerOS 2.0 SP12 : kernel (EulerOS-SA-2025-1176)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.15.83 or 6.0.13 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 6daaa84b6214/371363716398/ec851b23084b is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (216030) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2024-3251). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Affected

• Google Container-Optimized OS
• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• NetApp StorageGRID
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• Kyocera Printer
• NetApp AFF
• NetApp ActiveIQ Unified Manager
• SUSE openSUSE
• IBM Security Guardium
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Dell NetWorker
• Dell Avamar
• IBM QRadar SIEM
• NetApp FAS
• SolarWinds Security Event Manager
• Dell PowerProtect Data Domain
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• Dell PowerScale OneFS

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.15.0
• 5.15.1
• 5.15.2
• 5.15.3
• 5.15.4
• 5.15.5
• 5.15.6
• 5.15.7
• 5.15.8
• 5.15.9
• 5.15.10
• 5.15.11
• 5.15.12
• 5.15.13
• 5.15.14
• 5.15.15
• 5.15.16
• 5.15.17
• 5.15.18
• 5.15.19
• 5.15.20
• 5.15.21
• 5.15.22
• 5.15.23
• 5.15.24
• 5.15.25
• 5.15.26
• 5.15.27
• 5.15.28
• 5.15.29
• 5.15.30
• 5.15.31
• 5.15.32
• 5.15.33
• 5.15.34
• 5.15.35
• 5.15.36
• 5.15.37
• 5.15.38
• 5.15.39
• 5.15.40
• 5.15.41
• 5.15.42
• 5.15.43
• 5.15.44
• 5.15.45
• 5.15.46
• 5.15.47
• 5.15.48
• 5.15.49
• 5.15.50
• 5.15.51
• 5.15.52
• 5.15.53
• 5.15.54
• 5.15.55
• 5.15.56
• 5.15.57
• 5.15.58
• 5.15.59
• 5.15.60
• 5.15.61
• 5.15.62
• 5.15.63
• 5.15.64
• 5.15.65
• 5.15.66
• 5.15.67
• 5.15.68
• 5.15.69
• 5.15.70
• 5.15.71
• 5.15.72
• 5.15.73
• 5.15.74
• 5.15.75
• 5.15.76
• 5.15.77
• 5.15.78
• 5.15.79
• 5.15.80
• 5.15.81
• 5.15.82
• 6.0.0
• 6.0.1
• 6.0.2
• 6.0.3
• 6.0.4
• 6.0.5
• 6.0.6
• 6.0.7
• 6.0.8
• 6.0.9
• 6.0.10
• 6.0.11
• 6.0.12

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔍
• 🔍
• 🔍

CPE 2.2info

• 🔍
• 🔍
• 🔍

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Discussion