# CVE-2022-50838: net: stream: purge sk_error_queue in sk_stream_kill_queues()

> A local attacker can exhaust kernel memory and freeze the host by leaking TCP sockets via specific socket options and MSG_ZEROCOPY usage.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 30 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50838, GHSA-rgwv-j5f3-fh36, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50838

## What is CVE-2022-50838?

CVE-2022-50838 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 30 Dec 2025. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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

net: stream: purge sk_error_queue in sk_stream_kill_queues()

Changheon Lee reported TCP socket leaks, with a nice repro.

It seems we leak TCP sockets with the following sequence:

1) SOF_TIMESTAMPING_TX_ACK is enabled on the socket.

   Each ACK will cook an skb put in error queue, from __skb_tstamp_tx().
   __skb_tstamp_tx() is using skb_clone(), unless
   SOF_TIMESTAMPING_OPT_TSONLY was also requested.

2) If the application is also using MSG_ZEROCOPY, then we put in the
   error queue cloned skbs that had a struct ubuf_info attached to them.

   Whenever an struct ubuf_info is allocated, sock_zerocopy_alloc()
   does a sock_hold().

   As long as the cloned skbs are still in sk_error_queue,
   socket refcount is kept elevated.

3) Application closes the socket, while error queue is not empty.

Since tcp_close() no longer purges the socket error queue,
we might end up with a TCP socket with at least one skb in
error queue keeping the socket alive forever.

This bug can be (ab)used to consume all kernel memory
and freeze the host.

We need to purge the error queue, with proper synchronization
against concurrent writers.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50838?


## How do I fix CVE-2022-50838?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-50838 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50838 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-50838 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-50838 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 30 Dec 2025. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50838 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-2022-50838/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50838/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-50838
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-50838
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-50838

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50838/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.