# CVE-2022-50342: floppy: Fix memory leak in do_floppy_init() > A memory leak in the Linux kernel floppy driver allows local attackers to exhaust system memory, potentially causing a denial of service. - **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:** 16 Sep 2025 - **Updated:** 11 May 2026 - **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50342, GHSA-86r4-3x7h-8gh4, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50342 ## What is CVE-2022-50342? CVE-2022-50342 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 16 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: floppy: Fix memory leak in do_floppy_init() A memory leak was reported when floppy_alloc_disk() failed in do_floppy_init(). unreferenced object 0xffff888115ed25a0 (size 8): comm "modprobe", pid 727, jiffies 4295051278 (age 25.529s) hex dump (first 8 bytes): 00 ac 67 5b 81 88 ff ff ..g[.... backtrace: [<000000007f457abb>] __kmalloc_node+0x4c/0xc0 [<00000000a87bfa9e>] blk_mq_realloc_tag_set_tags.part.0+0x6f/0x180 [<000000006f02e8b1>] blk_mq_alloc_tag_set+0x573/0x1130 [<0000000066007fd7>] 0xffffffffc06b8b08 [<0000000081f5ac40>] do_one_initcall+0xd0/0x4f0 [<00000000e26d04ee>] do_init_module+0x1a4/0x680 [<000000001bb22407>] load_module+0x6249/0x7110 [<00000000ad31ac4d>] __do_sys_finit_module+0x140/0x200 [<000000007bddca46>] do_syscall_64+0x35/0x80 [<00000000b5afec39>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0 unreferenced object 0xffff88810fc30540 (size 32): comm "modprobe", pid 727, jiffies 4295051278 (age 25.529s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ backtrace: [<000000007f457abb>] __kmalloc_node+0x4c/0xc0 [<000000006b91eab4>] blk_mq_alloc_tag_set+0x393/0x1130 [<0000000066007fd7>] 0xffffffffc06b8b08 [<0000000081f5ac40>] do_one_initcall+0xd0/0x4f0 [<00000000e26d04ee>] do_init_module+0x1a4/0x680 [<000000001bb22407>] load_module+0x6249/0x7110 [<00000000ad31ac4d>] __do_sys_finit_module+0x140/0x200 [<000000007bddca46>] do_syscall_64+0x35/0x80 [<00000000b5afec39>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0 If the floppy_alloc_disk() failed, disks of current drive will not be set, thus the lastest allocated set->tag cannot be freed in the error handling path. A simple call graph shown as below: floppy_module_init() floppy_init() do_floppy_init() for (drive = 0; drive < N_DRIVE; drive++) blk_mq_alloc_tag_set() blk_mq_alloc_tag_set_tags() blk_mq_realloc_tag_set_tags() # set->tag allocated floppy_alloc_disk() blk_mq_alloc_disk() # error occurred, disks failed to allocated ->out_put_disk: for (drive = 0; drive < N_DRIVE; drive++) if (!disks[drive][0]) # the last disks is not set and loop break break; blk_mq_free_tag_set() # the latest allocated set->tag leaked Fix this problem by free the set->tag of current drive before jump to error handling path. [efremov: added stable list, changed title] Weakness: CWE-401 (Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50342? It affects 1 product. Products: Linux kernel. ## How do I fix CVE-2022-50342? Apply the vendor's patch. ## Is CVE-2022-50342 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50342 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-2022-50342 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2022-50342 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 16 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-2022-50342 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-2022-50342/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50342/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-50342 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-50342 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-50342 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50342/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.