CVE-2022-50043 | net: fix potential refcount leak in ndisc_router_discovery()

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: fix potential refcount leak in ndisc_router_discovery() The issue happens on specific paths in the function. After both the object `rt` and `neigh` are grabbed successfully, when `lifetime` is nonzero but the metric needs change, the function just deletes the route and set `rt` to NULL. Then, it may try grabbing `rt` and `neigh` again if above conditions hold. The function simply overwrite `neigh` if succeeds or returns if fails, without decreasing the reference count of previous `neigh`. This may result in memory leaks. Fix it by decrementing the reference count of `neigh` in place.

Published: 2025-06-18 Last update: 2025-11-13 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2022-50043 is rated Low Risk (22.9/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). 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-2022-50043

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 2025-06-18 — 0.02% —

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-50043

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]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2022-50043

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-50043

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2022-50043 unimportant 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-2022-50043
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-50043
suse medium CVE-2022-50043 severity moderate: SUSE including 26 source package names (cluster-md-kmp-default, dlm-kmp-default, …), 219 product×package rows across 42 product lines (SLES-LTSS-TERADATA 15 SP2, SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7, … (42 product lines)): Known Not Affected 219. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-50043/
ubuntu medium CVE-2022-50043 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 147, not-affected 144, released 114, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-50043

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-50043

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 5.12, < 5.15.63 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 5.19.4 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.0 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2022-50043

cvelogic Threat Intelligence