CVE-2022-50039 stmmac: intel: Add a missing clk_disable_unprepare() call in intel_eth_pci_remove()
A missing clock disable call in the Intel Ethernet driver can cause a kernel panic during module removal, leading to denial of service.
- 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-2022-50039?
CVE-2022-50039 is a medium-severity denial of service 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:
stmmac: intel: Add a missing clk_disable_unprepare() call in intel_eth_pci_remove()
Commit 09f012e64e4b ("stmmac: intel: Fix clock handling on error and remove paths") removed this clk_disable_unprepare()
This was partly revert by commit ac322f86b56c ("net: stmmac: Fix clock handling on remove path") which removed this clk_disable_unprepare() because: " While unloading the dwmac-intel driver, clk_disable_unprepare() is being called twice in stmmac_dvr_remove() and intel_eth_pci_remove(). This causes kernel panic on the second call. "
However later on, commit 5ec55823438e8 ("net: stmmac: add clocks management for gmac driver") has updated stmmac_dvr_remove() which do not call clk_disable_unprepare() anymore.
So this call should now be called from intel_eth_pci_remove().
Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50039?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2022-50039?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2022-50039 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50039 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50039, GHSA-f3rg-mc8q-q6cf, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50039.