# CVE-2022-49546: linux: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:  x86/kexec: fix memory leak of elf header buffer...

CVE-2022-49546 is fixed in linux on 1 platform, first by DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49546, released February 26, 2025. It is not reported as exploited. Patch Radar priority: Routine.

- Web page: https://patchblox.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-49546
- Priority: Routine
- CVSS: 5.5 (medium)
- EPSS: 0.0028
- CISA KEV: not listed
- Exploited (vendor report): no
- Publicly disclosed: no
- Published: Feb 26, 2025

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:  x86/kexec: fix memory leak of elf header buffer  This is reported by kmemleak detector:  unreferenced object 0xffffc900002a9000 (size 4096):   comm "kexec", pid 14950, jiffies 4295110793 (age 373.951s)   hex dump (first 32 bytes):     7f 45 4c 46 02 01 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  .ELF............     04 00 3e 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  ..>.............   backtrace:     [<0000000016a8ef9f>] __vmalloc_node_range+0x101/0x170     [<000000002b66b6c0>] __vmalloc_node+0xb4/0x160     [<00000000ad40107d>] crash_prepare_elf64_headers+0x8e/0xcd0     [<0000000019afff23>] crash_load_segments+0x260/0x470     [<0000000019ebe95c>] bzImage64_load+0x814/0xad0     [<0000000093e16b05>] arch_kexec_kernel_image_load+0x1be/0x2a0     [<000000009ef2fc88>] kimage_file_alloc_init+0x2ec/0x5a0     [<0000000038f5a97a>] __do_sys_kexec_file_load+0x28d/0x530     [<0000000087c19992>] do_syscall_64+0x3b/0x90     [<0000000066e063a4>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae  In crash_prepare_elf64_headers(), a buffer is allocated via vmalloc() to store elf headers.  While it's not freed back to system correctly when kdump kernel is reloaded or unloaded.  Then memory leak is caused.  Fix it by introducing x86 specific function arch_kimage_file_post_load_cleanup(), and freeing the buffer there.  And also remove the incorrect elf header buffer freeing code.  Before calling arch specific kexec_file loading function, the image instance has been initialized.  So 'image->elf_headers' must be NULL.  It doesn't make sense to free the elf header buffer in the place.  Three different people have reported three bugs about the memory leak on x86_64 inside Redhat.

## Where it's fixed

| Platform | Product | Fixed in | Fix | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | linux Debian 12.15 (bookworm) | 5.18.5-1 | [DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49546](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/debian-cve-2022-49546.md) | Feb 26, 2025 |
| Linux | linux Debian 13.5 (trixie) | 5.18.5-1 | [DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49546](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/debian-cve-2022-49546.md) | Feb 26, 2025 |
| Linux | linux Debian 14 | 5.18.5-1 | [DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49546](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/debian-cve-2022-49546.md) | Feb 26, 2025 |

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Data as of 2026-11-08T13:06:02Z UTC. Source: Patchblox Patch Radar (https://patchblox.com/security/patch-radar). Patchblox finds out-of-date software on Windows, macOS and Linux and updates it through release rings: https://patchblox.com/demo

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