CVE-2022-50285 mm,hugetlb: take hugetlb_lock before decrementing h->resv_huge_pages
A race condition in the Linux kernel's hugetlb subsystem can corrupt reservation counters, potentially leading to system instability or 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-2022-50285?
CVE-2022-50285 is a medium-severity 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:
mm,hugetlb: take hugetlb_lock before decrementing h->resv_huge_pages
The h->*_huge_pages counters are protected by the hugetlb_lock, but alloc_huge_page has a corner case where it can decrement the counter outside of the lock.
This could lead to a corrupted value of h->resv_huge_pages, which we have observed on our systems.
Take the hugetlb_lock before decrementing h->resv_huge_pages to avoid a potential race.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50285?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2022-50285?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2022-50285 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50285 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50285, GHSA-m6mf-ph7p-75j2, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50285.