# CVE-2022-50418: wifi: ath11k: mhi: fix potential memory leak in ath11k_mhi_register()

> A memory leak in the ath11k WiFi driver allows attackers to cause a denial of service by triggering specific error conditions during device registration.

- **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:** 18 Sep 2025
- **Updated:** 15 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-72316, DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50418, GHSA-pcpm-w6gc-fm98, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2022-50418, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2022-50418, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50418

## What is CVE-2022-50418?

CVE-2022-50418 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 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:

wifi: ath11k: mhi: fix potential memory leak in ath11k_mhi_register()

mhi_alloc_controller() allocates a memory space for mhi_ctrl. When gets
some error, mhi_ctrl should be freed with mhi_free_controller(). But
when ath11k_mhi_read_addr_from_dt() fails, the function returns without
calling mhi_free_controller(), which will lead to a memory leak.

We can fix it by calling mhi_free_controller() when
ath11k_mhi_read_addr_from_dt() fails.

Weakness: CWE-401 (Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50418?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-50418?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-50418 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50418 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-2022-50418 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-50418 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 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-2022-50418 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-2022-50418/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50418/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-50418
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-50418
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-50418

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50418/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.