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CVE-2022-49144
Linux Kernel vulnerability analysis and mitigation

Overview

CVE-2022-49144 is a memory leak vulnerability discovered in the Linux kernel's io_uring subsystem. The issue occurs in the files registration functionality when there are no files for __io_sqe_files_scm() to process in the range. In this scenario, while the function frees everything and returns, it fails to properly release the user ID (uid) resource, resulting in a memory leak (Kernel Git).

Technical details

The vulnerability stems from a missing free_uid(fpl->user) call in the __io_sqe_files_scm() function within fs/io_uring.c. When processing file registrations with no files in the specified range, the function properly frees the socket buffer (skb) and the file pointer list (fpl) structure, but fails to release the associated user ID resource. This issue was introduced by commit 08a451739a9b5 'io_uring: allow sparse fixed file sets' (Kernel Git).

Impact

The vulnerability results in a memory leak in the Linux kernel. While memory leaks don't typically allow for arbitrary code execution, they can lead to resource exhaustion over time, potentially affecting system stability and performance (NVD).

Mitigation and workarounds

The issue has been fixed in the Linux kernel by adding the missing free_uid(fpl->user) call before freeing the fpl structure. The fix has been backported to various stable kernel versions. Users should update their Linux kernel to a patched version. For Debian systems, fixed versions are available in bullseye (5.10.234-1) and bookworm (6.1.129-1) (Debian Tracker).

Additional resources


SourceThis report was generated using AI

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