CVE-2022-50616

CVE-2022-50616 is a security vulnerability that is still awaiting full analysis and scoring. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low.

Key facts

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: regulator: core: Use different devices for resource allocation and DT lookup Following by the below discussion, there's the potential UAF issue between regulator and mfd. https://lore.kernel.org/all/[email protected]/ From the analysis of Yingliang CPU A |CPU B mt6370_probe() | devm_mfd_add_devices() | |mt6370_regulator_probe() | regulator_register() | //allocate init_data and add it to devres | regulator_of_get_init_data() i2c_unregister_device() | device_del() | devres_release_all() | // init_data is freed | release_nodes() | | // using init_data causes UAF | regulator_register() It's common to use mfd core to create child device for the regulator. In order to do the DT lookup for init data, the child that registered the regulator would pass its parent as the parameter. And this causes init data resource allocated to its parent, not itself. The issue happen when parent device is going to release and regulator core is still doing some operation of init data constraint for the regulator of child device. To fix it, this patch expand 'regulator_register' API to use the different devices for init data allocation and DT lookup.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2022-50616?
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: regulator: core: Use different devices for resource allocation and DT lookup Following by the below discussion, there's the potential UAF issue between regulator and mfd. https://lore.kernel.org/all/[email protected]/ From the analysis of Yingliang CPU A |CPU B mt6370_probe() | devm_mfd_add_devices() | |mt6370_regulator_probe() | regulator_register() | //allocate init_data and add it to devres | regulator_of_get_init_data() i2c_unregister_device() | device_del() | devres_release_all() | // init_data is freed | release_nodes() | | // using init_data causes UAF | regulator_register() It's common to use mfd core to create child device for the regulator. In order to do the DT lookup for init data, the child that registered the regulator would pass its parent as the parameter. And this causes init data resource allocated to its parent, not itself. The issue happen when parent device is going to release and regulator core is still doing some operation of init data constraint for the regulator of child device. To fix it, this patch expand 'regulator_register' API to use the different devices for init data allocation and DT lookup.
Is CVE-2022-50616 being actively exploited?
It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (7th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How do I fix CVE-2022-50616?
Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
Does CVE-2022-50616 have an EU (EUVD) identifier?
Yes. CVE-2022-50616 is tracked in the ENISA EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD) as EUVD-2022-55696.
When was CVE-2022-50616 published?
CVE-2022-50616 was published on 2025-12-08 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References