# 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.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 22 Oct 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50577, GHSA-6fv2-p7hp-vxq5, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50577

## 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.

## Is CVE-2022-50577 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50577 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-50577 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50577 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2022-50577/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50577/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-50577
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-50577
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-50577

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50577/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.