Vulnerability in Linux

CVE-2022-49890

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: capabilities: fix potential memleak on error path from vfs_getxattr_alloc() In cap_inode_getsecurity(), we will use vfs_getxattr_alloc() to complete the memory allocation of tmpbuf, if we have completed the memory allocation of tmpbuf, but failed to call handler->get(...), there will be a memleak in below logic: |-- ret = (int)vfs_getxattr_alloc(mnt_userns, ...) | /* ^^^ alloc for tmpbuf */ |-- value = krealloc(*xattr_value, error + 1, flags) | /* ^^^ alloc memory */ |-- error = handler->get(handler, ...) | /* error! */ |-- *xattr_value = value | /* xattr_value is &tmpbuf (memory leak!) */ So we will try to free(tmpbuf) after vfs_getxattr_alloc() fails to fix it. [PM: subject line and backtrace tweaks]

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.002 (11.0th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 11th percentile — 11.0% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2022-49890: held from 0.002 to 0.002.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.002 · newest: 0.002 · change: +0.000

Affected products

  • Linux — versions 8db6c34f1dbc8e06aa016a9b829b06902c3e1340, 4.14, 0
  • Linux Kernel — versions 6.1

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2022-49890?
CVE-2022-49890 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2025-05-01.
How severe is CVE-2022-49890?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.