# CVE-2022-49896: cxl/pmem: Fix cxl_pmem_region and cxl_memdev leak

> A memory leak in the Linux kernel CXL PMEM driver allows attackers to cause denial of service by triggering device removal events.

- **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:** 1 May 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49896, GHSA-3g7w-h796-wcg5, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49896

## What is CVE-2022-49896?

CVE-2022-49896 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 May 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:

cxl/pmem: Fix cxl_pmem_region and cxl_memdev leak

When a cxl_nvdimm object goes through a ->remove() event (device
physically removed, nvdimm-bridge disabled, or nvdimm device disabled),
then any associated regions must also be disabled. As highlighted by the
cxl-create-region.sh test [1], a single device may host multiple
regions, but the driver was only tracking one region at a time. This
leads to a situation where only the last enabled region per nvdimm
device is cleaned up properly. Other regions are leaked, and this also
causes cxl_memdev reference leaks.

Fix the tracking by allowing cxl_nvdimm objects to track multiple region
associations.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49896?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49896?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49896 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49896 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-2022-49896 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49896 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 May 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-2022-49896 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-2022-49896/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49896/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49896
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49896
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49896

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49896/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.