CVE-2022-50629

Vulnerability

Description

CVE-2022-50629 is a memory leak vulnerability in the Linux kernel's Redpine Signals wifi driver. In the function rsi_coex_attach(), a control block (coex_cb) is allocated, but if rsi_create_kthread() fails, this memory is not freed, leading to a memory leak [1].

Attack

Vector and Prerequisites

The vulnerability can be triggered locally by an attacker with the ability to load the rsi driver and cause thread creation failure, for example by exhausting system resources. No special privileges are required beyond the ability to interact with the wifi device or trigger driver initialization.

Impact

An attacker can cause a gradual depletion of kernel memory, leading to system instability or denial of service (DoS). The leak occurs each time the driver initialization fails, potentially causing the system to run out of memory over repeated attempts.

Mitigation

Patches have been applied to the Linux kernel stable branches as seen in commits [1], [2], and [3]. Users should update their kernel to include these fixes. No workaround is available other than applying the patch or avoiding the vulnerable driver.