CVE-2022-50274 media: dvbdev: adopts refcnt to avoid UAF

What is CVE-2022-50274?

CVE-2022-50274 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:

media: dvbdev: adopts refcnt to avoid UAF

dvb_unregister_device() is known that prone to use-after-free. That is, the cleanup from dvb_unregister_device() releases the dvb_device even if there are pointers stored in file->private_data still refer to it.

This patch adds a reference counter into struct dvb_device and delays its deallocation until no pointer refers to the object.

Weakness: CWE-416

Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50274?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2022-50274?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.

Is CVE-2022-50274 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50274 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

• CVE-2026-53266 Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2013-6282 Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2022-0185 Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2013-2094 Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2026-53362 Linux Kernel Unspecified Exploited High 7.8

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50274, GHSA-x77f-2wpm-x48r, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50274.