CVE-2022-49926 | net: dsa: Fix possible memory leaks in dsa_loop_init()

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: dsa: Fix possible memory leaks in dsa_loop_init() kmemleak reported memory leaks in dsa_loop_init(): kmemleak: 12 new suspected memory leaks unreferenced object 0xffff8880138ce000 (size 2048): comm "modprobe", pid 390, jiffies 4295040478 (age 238.976s) backtrace: [<000000006a94f1d5>] kmalloc_trace+0x26/0x60 [<00000000a9c44622>] phy_device_create+0x5d/0x970 [<00000000d0ee2afc>] get_phy_device+0xf3/0x2b0 [<00000000dca0c71f>] __fixed_phy_register.part.0+0x92/0x4e0 [<000000008a834798>] fixed_phy_register+0x84/0xb0 [<0000000055223fcb>] dsa_loop_init+0xa9/0x116 [dsa_loop] ... There are two reasons for memleak in dsa_loop_init(). First, fixed_phy_register() create and register phy_device: fixed_phy_register() get_phy_device() phy_device_create() # freed by phy_device_free() phy_device_register() # freed by phy_device_remove() But fixed_phy_unregister() only calls phy_device_remove(). So the memory allocated in phy_device_create() is leaked. Second, when mdio_driver_register() fail in dsa_loop_init(), it just returns and there is no cleanup for phydevs. Fix the problems by catching the error of mdio_driver_register() in dsa_loop_init(), then calling both fixed_phy_unregister() and phy_device_free() to release phydevs. Also add a function for phydevs cleanup to avoid duplacate.

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

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2022-49926 is rated Low Risk (28.9/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.06%). 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-2022-49926

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 2026-02-25 0.02% 0.06% +0.04%
2 2025-05-02 0.02%

Full EPSS history (2 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-49926

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-2022-49926

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-49926

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2022-49926 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2022-49926
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-49926
suse medium CVE-2022-49926 severity moderate: SUSE including 25 source package names (cluster-md-kmp-default, dlm-kmp-default, …), 163 product×package rows across 31 product lines (SLES-LTSS-TERADATA 15 SP2, SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7, … (31 product lines)): Known Not Affected 163. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-49926/
ubuntu medium CVE-2022-49926 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, released 152, ignored 146, not-affected 107, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-49926

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-49926

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 4.12, < 4.14.299 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 4.15, < 4.19.265 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 4.20, < 5.4.224 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.5, < 5.10.154 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.15.78 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.0.8 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:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2022-49926

cvelogic Threat Intelligence