CVE-2022-50521 platform/x86: mxm-wmi: fix memleak in mxm_wmi_call_mx[ds|mx]()
A memory leak in the Linux kernel's mxm-wmi driver allows attackers to exhaust system memory, potentially causing a denial of service.
- 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
What is CVE-2022-50521?
CVE-2022-50521 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 7 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:
platform/x86: mxm-wmi: fix memleak in mxm_wmi_call_mx[ds|mx]()
The ACPI buffer memory (out.pointer) returned by wmi_evaluate_method() is not freed after the call, so it leads to memory leak.
The method results in ACPI buffer is not used, so just pass NULL to wmi_evaluate_method() which fixes the memory leak.
Weakness: CWE-401
Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50521?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2022-50521?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2022-50521 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50521 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50521, GHSA-7v86-rcc3-mqc8, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50521.