# CVE-2022-50457: mtd: core: Fix refcount error in del_mtd_device()

> A refcount leak in the Linux kernel MTD subsystem can lead to memory exhaustion and 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:** 1 Oct 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50457, GHSA-j49h-xgx7-8459, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50457

## What is CVE-2022-50457?

CVE-2022-50457 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 Oct 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:

mtd: core: Fix refcount error in del_mtd_device()

del_mtd_device() will call of_node_put() to mtd_get_of_node(mtd), which
is mtd->dev.of_node. However, memset(&mtd->dev, 0) is called before
of_node_put(). As the result, of_node_put() won't do anything in
del_mtd_device(), and causes the refcount leak.

del_mtd_device()
    memset(&mtd->dev, 0, sizeof(mtd->dev) # clear mtd->dev
    of_node_put()
        mtd_get_of_node(mtd) # mtd->dev is cleared, can't locate of_node
                             # of_node_put(NULL) won't do anything

Fix the error by caching the pointer of the device_node.

OF: ERROR: memory leak, expected refcount 1 instead of 2,
of_node_get()/of_node_put() unbalanced - destroy cset entry: attach
overlay node /spi/spi-sram@0
CPU: 3 PID: 275 Comm: python3 Tainted: G N 6.1.0-rc3+ #54
    0d8a1edddf51f172ff5226989a7565c6313b08e2
Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS
rel-1.15.0-0-g2dd4b9b3f840-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014
Call Trace:
<TASK>
    dump_stack_lvl+0x67/0x83
    kobject_get+0x155/0x160
    of_node_get+0x1f/0x30
    of_fwnode_get+0x43/0x70
    fwnode_handle_get+0x54/0x80
    fwnode_get_nth_parent+0xc9/0xe0
    fwnode_full_name_string+0x3f/0xa0
    device_node_string+0x30f/0x750
    pointer+0x598/0x7a0
    vsnprintf+0x62d/0x9b0
    ...
    cfs_overlay_release+0x30/0x90
    config_item_release+0xbe/0x1a0
    config_item_put+0x5e/0x80
    configfs_rmdir+0x3bd/0x540
    vfs_rmdir+0x18c/0x320
    do_rmdir+0x198/0x330
    __x64_sys_rmdir+0x2c/0x40
    do_syscall_64+0x37/0x90
    entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd

[<miquel.raynal@bootlin.com>: Light reword of the commit log]

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50457?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-50457?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-50457 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50457 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-2022-50457 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-50457 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 Oct 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-2022-50457 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-2022-50457/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50457/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-50457
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-50457
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-50457

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50457/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.