Linux Kernel up to 5.10.137/5.15.62/5.19.3 net netlink_policy_dump_add_policy memory leak

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 5.10.137/5.15.62/5.19.3 and classified as critical. Impacted is the function netlink_policy_dump_add_policy of the component net. The manipulation leads to memory leak. This vulnerability is listed as CVE-2022-50042. There is no available exploit. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.10.137/5.15.62/5.19.3 and classified as critical. This issue affects the function netlink_policy_dump_add_policy of the component net. 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: net: genl: fix error path memory leak in policy dumping If construction of the array of policies fails when recording non-first policy we need to unwind. netlink_policy_dump_add_policy() itself also needs fixing as it currently gives up on error without recording the allocated pointer in the pstate pointer.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2022-50042 since 06/18/2025. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 246687 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2022-50042), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.10.138, 5.15.63 or 5.19.4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 83411c9f05d5a8b637293b3389eca3d378197c04/b0672895d8be5d19d4b05ac83f807026fc791037/26b6acd365823e99e46be3b27500f5dc235dda5e/249801360db3dec4f73768c502192020bfddeacc 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 (246687), EUVD (EUVD-2022-55313) 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

• 5.10.137
• 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
• 5.19.0
• 5.19.1
• 5.19.2
• 5.19.3

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

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Discussion