# CVE-2022-50779: orangefs: Fix kmemleak in orangefs_prepare_debugfs_help_string()

> A memory leak in the orangefs kernel module allows local attackers to exhaust system memory, potentially causing denial of service.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 24 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50779, GHSA-rp7x-j245-c8g9, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50779

## What is CVE-2022-50779?

CVE-2022-50779 is a memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 Dec 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:

orangefs: Fix kmemleak in orangefs_prepare_debugfs_help_string()

When insert and remove the orangefs module, then debug_help_string will
be leaked:

  unreferenced object 0xffff8881652ba000 (size 4096):
    comm "insmod", pid 1701, jiffies 4294893639 (age 13218.530s)
    hex dump (first 32 bytes):
      43 6c 69 65 6e 74 20 44 65 62 75 67 20 4b 65 79  Client Debug Key
      77 6f 72 64 73 20 61 72 65 20 75 6e 6b 6e 6f 77  words are unknow
    backtrace:
      [<0000000004e6f8e3>] kmalloc_trace+0x27/0xa0
      [<0000000006f75d85>] orangefs_prepare_debugfs_help_string+0x5e/0x480 [orangefs]
      [<0000000091270a2a>] _sub_I_65535_1+0x57/0xf70 [crc_itu_t]
      [<000000004b1ee1a3>] do_one_initcall+0x87/0x2a0
      [<000000001d0614ae>] do_init_module+0xdf/0x320
      [<00000000efef068c>] load_module+0x2f98/0x3330
      [<000000006533b44d>] __do_sys_finit_module+0x113/0x1b0
      [<00000000a0da6f99>] do_syscall_64+0x35/0x80
      [<000000007790b19b>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0

When remove the module, should always free debug_help_string. Should
always free the allocated buffer when change the free_debug_help_string.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50779?


## How do I fix CVE-2022-50779?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-50779 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50779 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-50779 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-50779 is a memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 Dec 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-2022-50779 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-2022-50779/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50779/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-50779
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-50779
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-50779

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50779/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.