Linux Kernel up to 5.15.65/5.19.7 openvswitch ovs_dp_cmd_new memory leak

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.65/5.19.7. This affects the function ovs_dp_cmd_new of the component openvswitch. The manipulation results in memory leak. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2022-49959. No exploit is available. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.65/5.19.7. Affected is the function ovs_dp_cmd_new of the component openvswitch. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a memory leak vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-401. The product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, which slowly consumes remaining memory. This is going to have an impact on availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: openvswitch: fix memory leak at failed datapath creation ovs_dp_cmd_new()->ovs_dp_change()->ovs_dp_set_upcall_portids() allocates array via kmalloc. If for some reason new_vport() fails during ovs_dp_cmd_new() dp->upcall_portids must be freed. Add missing kfree. Kmemleak example: unreferenced object 0xffff88800c382500 (size 64): comm "dump_state", pid 323, jiffies 4294955418 (age 104.347s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 5e c2 79 e4 1f 7a 38 c7 09 21 38 0c 80 88 ff ff ^.y..z8..!8..... 03 00 00 00 0a 00 00 00 14 00 00 00 28 00 00 00 ............(... backtrace: [<0000000071bebc9f>] ovs_dp_set_upcall_portids+0x38/0xa0 [<000000000187d8bd>] ovs_dp_change+0x63/0xe0 [<000000002397e446>] ovs_dp_cmd_new+0x1f0/0x380 [<00000000aa06f36e>] genl_family_rcv_msg_doit+0xea/0x150 [<000000008f583bc4>] genl_rcv_msg+0xdc/0x1e0 [<00000000fa10e377>] netlink_rcv_skb+0x50/0x100 [<000000004959cece>] genl_rcv+0x24/0x40 [<000000004699ac7f>] netlink_unicast+0x23e/0x360 [<00000000c153573e>] netlink_sendmsg+0x24e/0x4b0 [<000000006f4aa380>] sock_sendmsg+0x62/0x70 [<00000000d0068654>] ____sys_sendmsg+0x230/0x270 [<0000000012dacf7d>] ___sys_sendmsg+0x88/0xd0 [<0000000011776020>] __sys_sendmsg+0x59/0xa0 [<000000002e8f2dc1>] do_syscall_64+0x3b/0x90 [<000000003243e7cb>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2022-49959 since 06/18/2025. The exploitability is told to be difficult. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit.

Upgrading to version 5.15.66 or 5.19.8 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch ca54b2bfaab385778e55a9fd33f6c31e7f743b48/c0c1c0241917459644326a1a3102207c871ae159/a87406f4adee9c53b311d8a1ba2849c69e29a6d0 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 vulnerability database at CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-1350). If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Dell Avamar
• Dell NetWorker
• Dell Secure Connect Gateway
• IBM QRadar SIEM

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
• 5.19.0
• 5.19.1
• 5.19.2
• 5.19.3
• 5.19.4
• 5.19.5
• 5.19.6
• 5.19.7

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Exploitinginfo

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Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

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