CVE-2022-49959 openvswitch: fix memory leak at failed datapath creation
A memory leak in the Linux kernel's Open vSwitch module allows attackers to cause a denial of service by exhausting kernel memory.
- 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
What is CVE-2022-49959?
CVE-2022-49959 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 Jun 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:
openvswitch: fix memory leak at failed datapath creation
ovs_dp_cmd_new()->ovs_dp_change()->ovs_dp_set_upcall_portids() allocates array via kmalloc. If for some reason new_vport() fails during ovs_dp_cmd_new() dp->upcall_portids must be freed. Add missing kfree.
Kmemleak example: unreferenced object 0xffff88800c382500 (size 64): comm "dump_state", pid 323, jiffies 4294955418 (age 104.347s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 5e c2 79 e4 1f 7a 38 c7 09 21 38 0c 80 88 ff ff ^.y..z8..!8..... 03 00 00 00 0a 00 00 00 14 00 00 00 28 00 00 00 ............(... backtrace: [<0000000071bebc9f>] ovs_dp_set_upcall_portids+0x38/0xa0 [<000000000187d8bd>] ovs_dp_change+0x63/0xe0 [<000000002397e446>] ovs_dp_cmd_new+0x1f0/0x380 [<00000000aa06f36e>] genl_family_rcv_msg_doit+0xea/0x150 [<000000008f583bc4>] genl_rcv_msg+0xdc/0x1e0 [<00000000fa10e377>] netlink_rcv_skb+0x50/0x100 [<000000004959cece>] genl_rcv+0x24/0x40 [<000000004699ac7f>] netlink_unicast+0x23e/0x360 [<00000000c153573e>] netlink_sendmsg+0x24e/0x4b0 [<000000006f4aa380>] sock_sendmsg+0x62/0x70 [<00000000d0068654>] ____sys_sendmsg+0x230/0x270 [<0000000012dacf7d>] ___sys_sendmsg+0x88/0xd0 [<0000000011776020>] __sys_sendmsg+0x59/0xa0 [<000000002e8f2dc1>] do_syscall_64+0x3b/0x90 [<000000003243e7cb>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd
Weakness: CWE-401
Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49959?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2022-49959?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.
Is CVE-2022-49959 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49959 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49959, GHSA-8gmg-4fx3-v48p, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49959.