Linux Kernel up to 5.10.136/5.15.60/5.18.17/5.19.1 exit_itimers use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 5.10.136/5.15.60/5.18.17/5.19.1. The affected element is the function exit_itimers. Performing a manipulation results in use after free. This vulnerability is identified as CVE-2022-50095. There is not any exploit available. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 5.10.136/5.15.60/5.18.17/5.19.1. This affects the function exit_itimers. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: posix-cpu-timers: Cleanup CPU timers before freeing them during exec Commit 55e8c8eb2c7b ("posix-cpu-timers: Store a reference to a pid not a task") started looking up tasks by PID when deleting a CPU timer. When a non-leader thread calls execve, it will switch PIDs with the leader process. Then, as it calls exit_itimers, posix_cpu_timer_del cannot find the task because the timer still points out to the old PID. That means that armed timers won't be disarmed, that is, they won't be removed from the timerqueue_list. exit_itimers will still release their memory, and when that list is later processed, it leads to a use-after-free. Clean up the timers from the de-threaded task before freeing them. This prevents a reported use-after-free.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2022-50095 since 06/18/2025. The exploitability is told to be easy. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 11/30/2025).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 241787 (Amazon Linux 2 : kernel (ALASKERNEL-5.15-2025-083)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.10.137, 5.15.61, 5.18.18 or 5.19.2 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 541840859ace9c2ccebc32fa9e376c7bd3def490/9e255ed238fc67058df87b0388ad6d4b2ef3a2bd/e8cb6e8fd9890780f1bfcf5592889e1b879e779c/b2fc1723eb65abb83e00d5f011de670296af0b28/e362359ace6f87c201531872486ff295df306d13 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 (241787) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-1350). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

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

• 5.10.136
• 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
• 5.18.0
• 5.18.1
• 5.18.2
• 5.18.3
• 5.18.4
• 5.18.5
• 5.18.6
• 5.18.7
• 5.18.8
• 5.18.9
• 5.18.10
• 5.18.11
• 5.18.12
• 5.18.13
• 5.18.14
• 5.18.15
• 5.18.16
• 5.18.17
• 5.19.0
• 5.19.1

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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Entryinfo

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