# CVE-2022-50506: drbd: only clone bio if we have a backing device

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel DRBD module allows local attackers to cause a denial of service when using diskless devices.

- **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-2022-50506, GHSA-2p73-743m-m4r5, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50506

## What is CVE-2022-50506?

CVE-2022-50506 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:

drbd: only clone bio if we have a backing device

Commit c347a787e34cb (drbd: set ->bi_bdev in drbd_req_new) moved a
bio_set_dev call (which has since been removed) to "earlier", from
drbd_request_prepare to drbd_req_new.

The problem is that this accesses device->ldev->backing_bdev, which is
not NULL-checked at this point. When we don't have an ldev (i.e. when
the DRBD device is diskless), this leads to a null pointer deref.

So, only allocate the private_bio if we actually have a disk. This is
also a small optimization, since we don't clone the bio to only to
immediately free it again in the diskless case.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50506?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-50506?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-50506 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50506 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-2022-50506 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-50506 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-2022-50506 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-2022-50506/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50506/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-50506
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-50506
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-50506

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50506/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.