net: stream: purge sk_error_queue in sk_stream_kill_queues()
Key facts
- Attack vector
- —
- Privileges required
- —
- User interaction
- —
- Attack complexity
- —
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- —
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 3 without a fix
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
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.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 4.9.291 to before 4.9.337; 4.14.256 to before 4.14.303; 4.19.218 to before 4.19.270; 5.4.160 to before 5.4.229; 5.10.80 to before 5.10.163; 5.15.3 to before 5.15.86; 4.4.293 to before 4.5; 5.14.19 to before 5.15 | 4.9.337, 4.14.303, 4.19.270, 5.4.229, 5.10.163, 5.15.86, 4.5, 5.15 | Patch available | CNA |
| Linux | Linux | 5.16 and later | 4.9.337, 4.14.303, 4.19.270, 5.4.229, 5.10.163, 5.15.86, 6.0.16, 6.1.2, 6.2 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 4.9.291 to before 4.9.337; 4.14.256 to before 4.14.303; 4.19.218 to before 4.19.270; 5.4.160 to before 5.4.229; 5.10.80 to before 5.10.163; 5.15.3 to before 5.15.86; 4.4.293 to before 4.5; 5.14.19 to before 5.15 Fixed in 4.9.337, 4.14.303, 4.19.270, 5.4.229, 5.10.163, 5.15.86, 4.5, 5.15 Patch available CNA
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 5.16 and later Fixed in 4.9.337, 4.14.303, 4.19.270, 5.4.229, 5.10.163, 5.15.86, 6.0.16, 6.1.2, 6.2 Patch available CNA
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 4.9.337, 4.14.303, 4.19.270, 5.4.229, 5.10.163, 5.15.86, 4.5, 5.15
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 4.9.337, 4.14.303, 4.19.270, 5.4.229, 5.10.163, 5.15.86, 6.0.16, 6.1.2, 6.2
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 2 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2022-50838
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-rgwv-j5f3-fh36
References
Other 9
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c8c1eec578a9ae2dc8f14a1846942a0b7bf29d1d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bab542cf56fc174c8447c00b73be99ffd66d2d39
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6f00bd0402a1e3d2d556afba57c045bd7931e4d3
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4f1d37ff4226eb99d6b69e9f4518e279e1a851bf
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9062493811676ee0efe6c74d98f00ca38c4e17d4
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9da204cd67c4fe97e8aa465d10d5c2e7076f7f42
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8c330c36b3970d0917f48827fa6c7a9c75aa4602
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b458d349f8753f666233828ebd30df6f100cf7d5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e0c8bccd40fc1c19e1d246c39bcf79e357e1ada3
More Linux vulnerabilities
- TI-2025-26358 tls: fix handling of zero-length records on the rx_list KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-38352 netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2021-02452 Incorrect authorization in Ubuntu linux kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
Sources
- CVE-2022-50838 · CVE Program
- CVE-2022-50838 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-rgwv-j5f3-fh36 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2022-50838 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences