CVE-2022-49080

CVE-2022-49080 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel with a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-401.

Key facts

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/mempolicy: fix mpol_new leak in shared_policy_replace If mpol_new is allocated but not used in restart loop, mpol_new will be freed via mpol_put before returning to the caller. But refcnt is not initialized yet, so mpol_put could not do the right things and might leak the unused mpol_new. This would happen if mempolicy was updated on the shared shmem file while the sp->lock has been dropped during the memory allocation. This issue could be triggered easily with the below code snippet if there are many processes doing the below work at the same time: shmid = shmget((key_t)5566, 1024 * PAGE_SIZE, 0666|IPC_CREAT); shm = shmat(shmid, 0, 0); loop many times { mbind(shm, 1024 * PAGE_SIZE, MPOL_LOCAL, mask, maxnode, 0); mbind(shm + 128 * PAGE_SIZE, 128 * PAGE_SIZE, MPOL_DEFAULT, mask, maxnode, 0); }

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2022-49080?
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/mempolicy: fix mpol_new leak in shared_policy_replace If mpol_new is allocated but not used in restart loop, mpol_new will be freed via mpol_put before returning to the caller. But refcnt is not initialized yet, so mpol_put could not do the right things and might leak the unused mpol_new. This would happen if mempolicy was updated on the shared shmem file while the sp->lock has been dropped during the memory allocation. This issue could be triggered easily with the below code snippet if there are many processes doing the below work at the same time: shmid = shmget((key_t)5566, 1024 * PAGE_SIZE, 0666|IPC_CREAT); shm = shmat(shmid, 0, 0); loop many times { mbind(shm, 1024 * PAGE_SIZE, MPOL_LOCAL, mask, maxnode, 0); mbind(shm + 128 * PAGE_SIZE, 128 * PAGE_SIZE, MPOL_DEFAULT, mask, maxnode, 0); }
How severe is CVE-2022-49080?
CVE-2022-49080 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.
Is CVE-2022-49080 being actively exploited?
It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (18th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2022-49080?
CVE-2022-49080 primarily affects Linux Linux Kernel. In total, 9 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.
How do I fix CVE-2022-49080?
Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
Does CVE-2022-49080 have an EU (EUVD) identifier?
Yes. CVE-2022-49080 is tracked in the ENISA EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD) as EUVD-2022-55124.
When was CVE-2022-49080 published?
CVE-2022-49080 was published on 2025-02-26 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (9)

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