# CVE-2022-50498: eth: alx: take rtnl_lock on resume

> A missing lock in the alx network driver during resume can trigger a kernel assertion failure, 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:** 4 Oct 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50498, GHSA-5v2q-57gf-xr2x, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50498

## What is CVE-2022-50498?

CVE-2022-50498 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:

eth: alx: take rtnl_lock on resume

Zbynek reports that alx trips an rtnl assertion on resume:

 RTNL: assertion failed at net/core/dev.c (2891)
 RIP: 0010:netif_set_real_num_tx_queues+0x1ac/0x1c0
 Call Trace:
  <TASK>
  __alx_open+0x230/0x570 [alx]
  alx_resume+0x54/0x80 [alx]
  ? pci_legacy_resume+0x80/0x80
  dpm_run_callback+0x4a/0x150
  device_resume+0x8b/0x190
  async_resume+0x19/0x30
  async_run_entry_fn+0x30/0x130
  process_one_work+0x1e5/0x3b0

indeed the driver does not hold rtnl_lock during its internal close
and re-open functions during suspend/resume. Note that this is not
a huge bug as the driver implements its own locking, and does not
implement changing the number of queues, but we need to silence
the splat.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50498?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-50498?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-50498 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50498 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-2022-50498 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-50498 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-2022-50498 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-2022-50498/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50498/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-50498
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-50498
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-50498

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50498/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.