Linux Kernel up to 5.15.79/6.0.9 bpf prepare_func_exit memory leak

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.79/6.0.9 and classified as critical. This affects the function prepare_func_exit of the component bpf. Such manipulation leads to memory leak. This vulnerability is listed as CVE-2022-49837. There is no available exploit. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.79/6.0.9 and classified as critical. Affected by this issue is the function prepare_func_exit of the component bpf. 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. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Fix memory leaks in __check_func_call kmemleak reports this issue: unreferenced object 0xffff88817139d000 (size 2048): comm "test_progs", pid 33246, jiffies 4307381979 (age 45851.820s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ backtrace: [] kmalloc_trace+0x27/0xa0 [] __check_func_call+0x316/0x1230 [] check_helper_call+0x172e/0x4700 [] do_check+0x21d8/0x45e0 [] do_check_common+0x767/0xaf0 [] bpf_check+0x43e3/0x5bc0 [] bpf_prog_load+0xf26/0x1940 [] __sys_bpf+0xd2c/0x3650 [] __x64_sys_bpf+0x75/0xc0 [] do_syscall_64+0x3b/0x90 [] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd The root case here is: In function prepare_func_exit(), the callee is not released in the abnormal scenario after "state->curframe--;". To fix, move "state->curframe--;" to the very bottom of the function, right when we free callee and reset frame[] pointer to NULL, as Andrii suggested. In addition, function __check_func_call() has a similar problem. In the abnormal scenario before "state->curframe++;", the callee also should be released by free_func_state().

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2022-49837 since 05/01/2025. The exploitation is known to be difficult. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 249204 (EulerOS 2.0 SP11 : kernel (EulerOS-SA-2025-1931)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.15.80 or 6.0.10 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch d4944497827a3d14bc5a26dbcfb7433eb5a956c0/83946d772e756734a900ef99dbe0aeda506adf37/eb86559a691cea5fa63e57a03ec3dc9c31e97955 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 (249204) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-0922). VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Affected

• Google Container-Optimized OS
• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Dell Avamar
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• IBM DataPower Gateway
• Dell NetWorker
• Dell Secure Connect Gateway

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
• 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

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

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