# CVE-2022-50659: hwrng: geode - Fix PCI device refcount leak

> A missing reference count decrement in the Geode hardware random number generator driver can lead to a memory leak and potential denial of service.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Not stated
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 9 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50659, GHSA-q98r-g989-36w3, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50659

## What is CVE-2022-50659?

CVE-2022-50659 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 9 Dec 2025. 

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

hwrng: geode - Fix PCI device refcount leak

for_each_pci_dev() is implemented by pci_get_device(). The comment of
pci_get_device() says that it will increase the reference count for the
returned pci_dev and also decrease the reference count for the input
pci_dev @from if it is not NULL.

If we break for_each_pci_dev() loop with pdev not NULL, we need to call
pci_dev_put() to decrease the reference count. We add a new struct
'amd_geode_priv' to record pointer of the pci_dev and membase, and then
add missing pci_dev_put() for the normal and error path.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50659?


## How do I fix CVE-2022-50659?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-50659 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50659 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-50659 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-50659 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 9 Dec 2025. 
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50659 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-2022-50659/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50659/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-50659
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-50659
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-50659

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50659/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.