# CVE-2022-50473: cpufreq: Init completion before kobject_init_and_add()

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel cpufreq subsystem can cause a system crash when kobject initialization fails.

- **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:** 4 Oct 2025
- **Updated:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50473, GHSA-ph99-mx6c-hvf9, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50473

## What is CVE-2022-50473?

CVE-2022-50473 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 4 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:

cpufreq: Init completion before kobject_init_and_add()

In cpufreq_policy_alloc(), it will call uninitialed completion in
cpufreq_sysfs_release() when kobject_init_and_add() fails. And
that will cause a crash such as the following page fault in complete:

BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: fffffffffffffff8
[..]
RIP: 0010:complete+0x98/0x1f0
[..]
Call Trace:
 kobject_put+0x1be/0x4c0
 cpufreq_online.cold+0xee/0x1fd
 cpufreq_add_dev+0x183/0x1e0
 subsys_interface_register+0x3f5/0x4e0
 cpufreq_register_driver+0x3b7/0x670
 acpi_cpufreq_init+0x56c/0x1000 [acpi_cpufreq]
 do_one_initcall+0x13d/0x780
 do_init_module+0x1c3/0x630
 load_module+0x6e67/0x73b0
 __do_sys_finit_module+0x181/0x240
 do_syscall_64+0x35/0x80
 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd

Weakness: CWE-908 (Use of Uninitialized Resource)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50473?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-50473?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-50473 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50473 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-2022-50473 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-50473 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 4 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-2022-50473 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-2022-50473/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50473/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-50473
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-50473
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-50473

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50473/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.