# CVE-2022-49539: rtw89: ser: fix CAM leaks occurring in L2 reset

> A memory leak in the rtw89 Wi-Fi driver during system error recovery can lead to resource exhaustion and denial of service.

- **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-2022-49539, GHSA-8vgm-mf5m-39hh, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2022-49539, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49539

## What is CVE-2022-49539?

CVE-2022-49539 is a medium-severity memory corruption 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:

rtw89: ser: fix CAM leaks occurring in L2 reset

The CAM, meaning address CAM and bssid CAM here, will get leaks during
SER (system error recover) L2 reset process and ieee80211_restart_hw()
which is called by L2 reset process eventually.

The normal flow would be like
-> add interface (acquire 1)
-> enter ips (release 1)
-> leave ips (acquire 1)
-> connection (occupy 1) <(A) 1 leak after L2 reset if non-sec connection>

The ieee80211_restart_hw() flow (under connection)
-> ieee80211 reconfig
-> add interface (acquire 1)
-> leave ips (acquire 1)
-> connection (occupy (A) + 2) <(B) 1 more leak>

Originally, CAM is released before HW restart only if connection is under
security. Now, release CAM whatever connection it is to fix leak in (A).
OTOH, check if CAM is already valid to avoid acquiring multiple times to
fix (B).

Besides, if AP mode, release address CAM of all stations before HW restart.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49539?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49539?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49539 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49539 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-2022-49539 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49539 is a medium-severity memory corruption 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-2022-49539 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-2022-49539/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49539/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49539
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49539
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49539

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49539/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.