# CVE-2022-50240: android: binder: stop saving a pointer to the VMA

> A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's binder driver allows attackers to potentially execute code or escalate privileges by exploiting stale VMA pointers.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 15 Sep 2025
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50240, GHSA-4cpm-89f2-8grm, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2022-50240, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2022-50240, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50240

## What is CVE-2022-50240?

CVE-2022-50240 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 15 Sep 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:

android: binder: stop saving a pointer to the VMA

Do not record a pointer to a VMA outside of the mmap_lock for later use. 
This is unsafe and there are a number of failure paths *after* the
recorded VMA pointer may be freed during setup.  There is no callback to
the driver to clear the saved pointer from generic mm code.  Furthermore,
the VMA pointer may become stale if any number of VMA operations end up
freeing the VMA so saving it was fragile to being with.

Instead, change the binder_alloc struct to record the start address of the
VMA and use vma_lookup() to get the vma when needed.  Add lockdep
mmap_lock checks on updates to the vma pointer to ensure the lock is held
and depend on that lock for synchronization of readers and writers - which
was already the case anyways, so the smp_wmb()/smp_rmb() was not
necessary.

[akpm@linux-foundation.org: fix drivers/android/binder_alloc_selftest.c]

Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50240?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-50240?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-50240 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50240 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-2022-50240 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-50240 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 15 Sep 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-2022-50240 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-2022-50240/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50240/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-50240
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-50240
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-50240

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50240/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.