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

> A memory leak in the Linux kernel DSA loop driver 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:** 1 May 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49926, GHSA-262g-44pp-38c2, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49926

## What is CVE-2022-49926?

CVE-2022-49926 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:

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.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49926?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49926?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49926 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49926 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-2022-49926 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49926 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-2022-49926 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-2022-49926/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49926/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49926
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49926
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49926

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49926/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.