CVE-2022-50577 ima: Fix memory leak in __ima_inode_hash()
A memory leak in the Linux kernel's IMA subsystem allows local attackers to exhaust system memory, potentially causing a denial of service.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2022-50577?
CVE-2022-50577 is a memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 22 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:
ima: Fix memory leak in __ima_inode_hash()
Commit f3cc6b25dcc5 ("ima: always measure and audit files in policy") lets measurement or audit happen even if the file digest cannot be calculated.
As a result, iint->ima_hash could have been allocated despite ima_collect_measurement() returning an error.
Since ima_hash belongs to a temporary inode metadata structure, declared at the beginning of __ima_inode_hash(), just add a kfree() call if ima_collect_measurement() returns an error different from -ENOMEM (in that case, ima_hash should not have been allocated).
Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50577?
How do I fix CVE-2022-50577?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.
Is CVE-2022-50577 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50577 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50577, GHSA-6fv2-p7hp-vxq5, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50577.