# CVE-2022-49219: vfio/pci: fix memory leak during D3hot to D0 transition

> A memory leak in the Linux kernel's VFIO PCI driver allows attackers to cause an out-of-memory denial of service by repeatedly triggering specific power state transitions.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 26 Feb 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49219, GHSA-pg5j-wj7f-h3mx, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49219

## What is CVE-2022-49219?

CVE-2022-49219 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 26 Feb 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

vfio/pci: fix memory leak during D3hot to D0 transition

If 'vfio_pci_core_device::needs_pm_restore' is set (PCI device does
not have No_Soft_Reset bit set in its PMCSR config register), then
the current PCI state will be saved locally in
'vfio_pci_core_device::pm_save' during D0->D3hot transition and same
will be restored back during D3hot->D0 transition.
For saving the PCI state locally, pci_store_saved_state() is being
used and the pci_load_and_free_saved_state() will free the allocated
memory.

But for reset related IOCTLs, vfio driver calls PCI reset-related
API's which will internally change the PCI power state back to D0. So,
when the guest resumes, then it will get the current state as D0 and it
will skip the call to vfio_pci_set_power_state() for changing the
power state to D0 explicitly. In this case, the memory pointed by
'pm_save' will never be freed. In a malicious sequence, the state changing
to D3hot followed by VFIO_DEVICE_RESET/VFIO_DEVICE_PCI_HOT_RESET can be
run in a loop and it can cause an OOM situation.

This patch frees the earlier allocated memory first before overwriting
'pm_save' to prevent the mentioned memory leak.

Weakness: CWE-401 (Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49219?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49219?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49219 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49219 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-49219 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49219 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 26 Feb 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49219 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49219/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49219/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49219
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49219
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49219

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49219/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.