CVE-2022-50481 cxl: fix possible null-ptr-deref in cxl_guest_init_afu|adapter()

What is CVE-2022-50481?

CVE-2022-50481 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:

cxl: fix possible null-ptr-deref in cxl_guest_init_afu|adapter()

If device_register() fails in cxl_register_afu|adapter(), the device is not added, device_unregister() can not be called in the error path, otherwise it will cause a null-ptr-deref because of removing not added device.

As comment of device_register() says, it should use put_device() to give up the reference in the error path. So split device_unregister() into device_del() and put_device(), then goes to put dev when register fails.

Weakness: CWE-476

Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50481?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2022-50481?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Is CVE-2022-50481 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50481 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

• CVE-2026-53266 Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2013-6282 Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2022-0185 Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2013-2094 Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2026-53362 Linux Kernel Unspecified Exploited High 7.8

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50481, GHSA-2fm3-57pq-4jp3, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50481.