CVE-2022-49837 | bpf: Fix memory leaks in __check_func_call

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Fix memory leaks in __check_func_call kmemleak reports this issue: unreferenced object 0xffff88817139d000 (size 2048): comm "test_progs", pid 33246, jiffies 4307381979 (age 45851.820s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ backtrace: [<0000000045f075f0>] kmalloc_trace+0x27/0xa0 [<0000000098b7c90a>] __check_func_call+0x316/0x1230 [<00000000b4c3c403>] check_helper_call+0x172e/0x4700 [<00000000aa3875b7>] do_check+0x21d8/0x45e0 [<000000001147357b>] do_check_common+0x767/0xaf0 [<00000000b5a595b4>] bpf_check+0x43e3/0x5bc0 [<0000000011e391b1>] bpf_prog_load+0xf26/0x1940 [<0000000007f765c0>] __sys_bpf+0xd2c/0x3650 [<00000000839815d6>] __x64_sys_bpf+0x75/0xc0 [<00000000946ee250>] do_syscall_64+0x3b/0x90 [<0000000000506b7f>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd The root case here is: In function prepare_func_exit(), the callee is not released in the abnormal scenario after "state->curframe--;". To fix, move "state->curframe--;" to the very bottom of the function, right when we free callee and reset frame[] pointer to NULL, as Andrii suggested. In addition, function __check_func_call() has a similar problem. In the abnormal scenario before "state->curframe++;", the callee also should be released by free_func_state().

Published: 2025-05-01 Last update: 2025-10-01 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2022-49837 is rated Low Risk (22.9/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2022-49837

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2025-05-02 0.02%

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-49837

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 3.6 [email protected]
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 3.6 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2022-49837

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-49837

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2022-49837 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 4, open 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2022-49837
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-49837
suse low https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-49837/
ubuntu medium CVE-2022-49837 medium priority: Ubuntu including 158 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1551 status rows across 10 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1145, ignored 146, not-affected 121, released 116, needed 22, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-49837

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-49837

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 4.20, < 5.15.80 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.0.10 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.1 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.1:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.1 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.1:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.1 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.1:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.1 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.1:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.1 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.1:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2022-49837

cvelogic Threat Intelligence