CVE-2022-50529 test_firmware: fix memory leak in test_firmware_init()
A memory leak in the Linux kernel test_firmware module can lead to resource exhaustion and denial of service when module initialization fails.
- 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-2022-50529?
CVE-2022-50529 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:
test_firmware: fix memory leak in test_firmware_init()
When misc_register() failed in test_firmware_init(), the memory pointed by test_fw_config->name is not released. The memory leak information is as follows: unreferenced object 0xffff88810a34cb00 (size 32): comm "insmod", pid 7952, jiffies 4294948236 (age 49.060s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 74 65 73 74 2d 66 69 72 6d 77 61 72 65 2e 62 69 test-firmware.bi 6e 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 n............... backtrace: [<ffffffff81b21fcb>] __kmalloc_node_track_caller+0x4b/0xc0 [<ffffffff81affb96>] kstrndup+0x46/0xc0 [<ffffffffa0403a49>] __test_firmware_config_init+0x29/0x380 [test_firmware] [<ffffffffa040f068>] 0xffffffffa040f068 [<ffffffff81002c41>] do_one_initcall+0x141/0x780 [<ffffffff816a72c3>] do_init_module+0x1c3/0x630 [<ffffffff816adb9e>] load_module+0x623e/0x76a0 [<ffffffff816af471>] __do_sys_finit_module+0x181/0x240 [<ffffffff89978f99>] do_syscall_64+0x39/0xb0 [<ffffffff89a0008b>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd
Weakness: CWE-401
Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50529?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2022-50529?
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-2022-50529 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50529 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50529, GHSA-chj4-grxw-4pvw, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50529.