# CVE-2022-50578: class: fix possible memory leak in __class_register()

> A memory leak in the Linux kernel class registration allows local attackers to cause resource exhaustion and denial of service.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **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:** 22 Oct 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50578, GHSA-x9pw-p3r7-mr43, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50578

## What is CVE-2022-50578?

CVE-2022-50578 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:

class: fix possible memory leak in __class_register()

If class_add_groups() returns error, the 'cp->subsys' need be
unregister, and the 'cp' need be freed.

We can not call kset_unregister() here, because the 'cls' will
be freed in callback function class_release() and it's also
freed in caller's error path, it will cause double free.

So fix this by calling kobject_del() and kfree_const(name) to
cleanup kobject. Besides, call kfree() to free the 'cp'.

Fault injection test can trigger this:

unreferenced object 0xffff888102fa8190 (size 8):
  comm "modprobe", pid 502, jiffies 4294906074 (age 49.296s)
  hex dump (first 8 bytes):
    70 6b 74 63 64 76 64 00                          pktcdvd.
  backtrace:
    [<00000000e7c7703d>] __kmalloc_track_caller+0x1ae/0x320
    [<000000005e4d70bc>] kstrdup+0x3a/0x70
    [<00000000c2e5e85a>] kstrdup_const+0x68/0x80
    [<000000000049a8c7>] kvasprintf_const+0x10b/0x190
    [<0000000029123163>] kobject_set_name_vargs+0x56/0x150
    [<00000000747219c9>] kobject_set_name+0xab/0xe0
    [<0000000005f1ea4e>] __class_register+0x15c/0x49a

unreferenced object 0xffff888037274000 (size 1024):
  comm "modprobe", pid 502, jiffies 4294906074 (age 49.296s)
  hex dump (first 32 bytes):
    00 40 27 37 80 88 ff ff 00 40 27 37 80 88 ff ff  .@'7.....@'7....
    00 00 00 00 ad 4e ad de ff ff ff ff 00 00 00 00  .....N..........
  backtrace:
    [<00000000151f9600>] kmem_cache_alloc_trace+0x17c/0x2f0
    [<00000000ecf3dd95>] __class_register+0x86/0x49a

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50578?


## How do I fix CVE-2022-50578?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-50578 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50578 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-50578 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-50578 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-2022-50578 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-2022-50578/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50578/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-50578
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-50578
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-50578

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50578/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.