CVE-2022-50751: configfs: fix possible memory leak in configfs_create_dir()

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: configfs: fix possible memory leak in configfs_create_dir() kmemleak reported memory leaks in configfs_create_dir(): unreferenced object 0xffff888009f6af00 (size 192): comm "modprobe", pid 3777, jiffies 4295537735 (age 233.784s) backtrace: kmem_cache_alloc (mm/slub.c:3250 mm/slub.c:3256 mm/slub.c:3263 mm/slub.c:3273) new_fragment (./include/linux/slab.h:600 fs/configfs/dir.c:163) configfs_register_subsystem (fs/configfs/dir.c:1857) basic_write (drivers/hwtracing/stm/p_basic.c:14) stm_p_basic do_one_initcall (init/main.c:1296) do_init_module (kernel/module/main.c:2455) ... unreferenced object 0xffff888003ba7180 (size 96): comm "modprobe", pid 3777, jiffies 4295537735 (age 233.784s) backtrace: kmem_cache_alloc (mm/slub.c:3250 mm/slub.c:3256 mm/slub.c:3263 mm/slub.c:3273) configfs_new_dirent (./include/linux/slab.h:723 fs/configfs/dir.c:194) configfs_make_dirent (fs/configfs/dir.c:248) configfs_create_dir (fs/configfs/dir.c:296) configfs_attach_group.isra.28 (fs/configfs/dir.c:816 fs/configfs/dir.c:852) configfs_register_subsystem (fs/configfs/dir.c:1881) basic_write (drivers/hwtracing/stm/p_basic.c:14) stm_p_basic do_one_initcall (init/main.c:1296) do_init_module (kernel/module/main.c:2455) ... This is because the refcount is not correct in configfs_make_dirent(). For normal stage, the refcount is changing as: configfs_register_subsystem() configfs_create_dir() configfs_make_dirent() configfs_new_dirent() # set s_count = 1 dentry->d_fsdata = configfs_get(sd); # s_count = 2 ... configfs_unregister_subsystem() configfs_remove_dir() remove_dir() configfs_remove_dirent() # s_count = 1 dput() ... *dentry_unlink_inode()* configfs_d_iput() # s_count = 0, release However, if we failed in configfs_create(): configfs_register_subsystem() configfs_create_dir() configfs_make_dirent() # s_count = 2 ... configfs_create() # fail ->out_remove: configfs_remove_dirent(dentry) configfs_put(sd) # s_count = 1 return PTR_ERR(inode); There is no inode in the error path, so the configfs_d_iput() is lost and makes sd and fragment memory leaked. To fix this, when we failed in configfs_create(), manually call configfs_put(sd) to keep the refcount correct.

Scores

No CVSS score yet: neither the CNA, CISA nor NVD has scored this CVE. NVD status: Deferred.

EPSS (exploitation in 30 days): 0.25% · top 83% of all CVEs (6 Nov 2026)

The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Not scored.

Affected products

Linux · Linux
- affected 7063fbf2261194f72ee75afca67b3b38b554b5fa – < 90c38f57a821499391526b15cc944c265bd24e48
- affected 7063fbf2261194f72ee75afca67b3b38b554b5fa – < 74ac7c9ee2d486c501e7864c903f5098fc477acd
- affected 7063fbf2261194f72ee75afca67b3b38b554b5fa – < 07f82dca112262b169bec0001378126439cab776
- affected 7063fbf2261194f72ee75afca67b3b38b554b5fa – < 8bc77754224a2c8581727ffe2e958119b4e27c8f
- affected 7063fbf2261194f72ee75afca67b3b38b554b5fa – < c72eb6e6e49a71f7598740786568fafdd013a227
- affected 7063fbf2261194f72ee75afca67b3b38b554b5fa – < c65234b283a65cfbfc94619655e820a5e55199eb
Linux · Linux
- affected 2.6.16
- unaffected < 2.6.16
- unaffected 5.4.229 – ≤ 5.4.*
- unaffected 5.10.163 – ≤ 5.10.*
- unaffected 5.15.86 – ≤ 5.15.*
- unaffected 6.0.16 – ≤ 6.0.*
- unaffected 6.1.2 – ≤ 6.1.*
- unaffected 6.2 – ≤ *

References (6)

Sources

The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.

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Record last updated 11 May 2026, 19:24 UTC.