# CVE-2022-50256: drm/meson: remove drm bridges at aggregate driver unbind time

> A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's meson DRM driver allows attackers to cause a denial of service or potentially execute code via dangling references.

- **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:** 15 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-70765, DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50256, GHSA-qh76-9567-4h37, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2022-50256, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2022-50256, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50256

## What is CVE-2022-50256?

CVE-2022-50256 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:

drm/meson: remove drm bridges at aggregate driver unbind time

drm bridges added by meson_encoder_hdmi_init and meson_encoder_cvbs_init
were not manually removed at module unload time, which caused dangling
references to freed memory to remain linked in the global bridge_list.

When loading the driver modules back in, the same functions would again
call drm_bridge_add, and when traversing the global bridge_list, would
end up peeking into freed memory.

Once again KASAN revealed the problem:

[  +0.000095] =============================================================
[  +0.000008] BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in __list_add_valid+0x9c/0x120
[  +0.000018] Read of size 8 at addr ffff00003da291f0 by task modprobe/2483

[  +0.000018] CPU: 3 PID: 2483 Comm: modprobe Tainted: G         C O      5.19.0-rc6-lrmbkasan+ #1
[  +0.000011] Hardware name: Hardkernel ODROID-N2Plus (DT)
[  +0.000008] Call trace:
[  +0.000006]  dump_backtrace+0x1ec/0x280
[  +0.000012]  show_stack+0x24/0x80
[  +0.000008]  dump_stack_lvl+0x98/0xd4
[  +0.000011]  print_address_description.constprop.0+0x80/0x520
[  +0.000011]  print_report+0x128/0x260
[  +0.000008]  kasan_report+0xb8/0xfc
[  +0.000008]  __asan_report_load8_noabort+0x3c/0x50
[  +0.000009]  __list_add_valid+0x9c/0x120
[  +0.000009]  drm_bridge_add+0x6c/0x104 [drm]
[  +0.000165]  dw_hdmi_probe+0x1900/0x2360 [dw_hdmi]
[  +0.000022]  meson_dw_hdmi_bind+0x520/0x814 [meson_dw_hdmi]
[  +0.000014]  component_bind+0x174/0x520
[  +0.000012]  component_bind_all+0x1a8/0x38c
[  +0.000010]  meson_drv_bind_master+0x5e8/0xb74 [meson_drm]
[  +0.000032]  meson_drv_bind+0x20/0x2c [meson_drm]
[  +0.000027]  try_to_bring_up_aggregate_device+0x19c/0x390
[  +0.000010]  component_master_add_with_match+0x1c8/0x284
[  +0.000009]  meson_drv_probe+0x274/0x280 [meson_drm]
[  +0.000026]  platform_probe+0xd0/0x220
[  +0.000009]  really_probe+0x3ac/0xa80
[  +0.000009]  __driver_probe_device+0x1f8/0x400
[  +0.000009]  driver_probe_device+0x68/0x1b0
[  +0.000009]  __driver_attach+0x20c/0x480
[  +0.000008]  bus_for_each_dev+0x114/0x1b0
[  +0.000009]  driver_attach+0x48/0x64
[  +0.000008]  bus_add_driver+0x390/0x564
[  +0.000009]  driver_register+0x1a8/0x3e4
[  +0.000009]  __platform_driver_register+0x6c/0x94
[  +0.000008]  meson_drm_platform_driver_init+0x3c/0x1000 [meson_drm]
[  +0.000027]  do_one_initcall+0xc4/0x2b0
[  +0.000011]  do_init_module+0x154/0x570
[  +0.000011]  load_module+0x1a78/0x1ea4
[  +0.000008]  __do_sys_init_module+0x184/0x1cc
[  +0.000009]  __arm64_sys_init_module+0x78/0xb0
[  +0.000009]  invoke_syscall+0x74/0x260
[  +0.000009]  el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0xcc/0x260
[  +0.000008]  do_el0_svc+0x50/0x70
[  +0.000007]  el0_svc+0x68/0x1a0
[  +0.000012]  el0t_64_sync_handler+0x11c/0x150
[  +0.000008]  el0t_64_sync+0x18c/0x190

[  +0.000016] Allocated by task 879:
[  +0.000008]  kasan_save_stack+0x2c/0x5c
[  +0.000011]  __kasan_kmalloc+0x90/0xd0
[  +0.000007]  __kmalloc+0x278/0x4a0
[  +0.000011]  mpi_resize+0x13c/0x1d0
[  +0.000011]  mpi_powm+0xd24/0x1570
[  +0.000009]  rsa_enc+0x1a4/0x30c
[  +0.000009]  pkcs1pad_verify+0x3f0/0x580
[  +0.000009]  public_key_verify_signature+0x7a8/0xba4
[  +0.000010]  public_key_verify_signature_2+0x40/0x60
[  +0.000008]  verify_signature+0xb4/0x114
[  +0.000008]  pkcs7_validate_trust_one.constprop.0+0x3b8/0x574
[  +0.000009]  pkcs7_validate_trust+0xb8/0x15c
[  +0.000008]  verify_pkcs7_message_sig+0xec/0x1b0
[  +0.000012]  verify_pkcs7_signature+0x78/0xac
[  +0.000007]  mod_verify_sig+0x110/0x190
[  +0.000009]  module_sig_check+0x114/0x1e0
[  +0.000009]  load_module+0xa0/0x1ea4
[  +0.000008]  __do_sys_init_module+0x184/0x1cc
[  +0.000008]  __arm64_sys_init_module+0x78/0xb0
[  +0.000008]  invoke_syscall+0x74/0x260
[  +0.000009]  el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0x1a8/0x260
[  +0.000008]  do_el0_svc+0x50/0x70
[  +0.000007]  el0_svc+0x68/0x1a0
[  +0.000009]  el0t_64_sync_handler+0x11c/0x150
[  +0.000009]  el0t_64
---truncated---

Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50256?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-50256?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-50256 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50256 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-2022-50256 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-50256 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-2022-50256 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-2022-50256/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50256/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-50256
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-50256
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-50256

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50256/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.