# CVE-2022-50545: linux: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:  r6040: Fix kmemleak in probe and remove  There i...

CVE-2022-50545 is fixed in linux on 1 platform, first by DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50545, released October 7, 2025. It is not reported as exploited. Patch Radar priority: Routine.

- Web page: https://patchblox.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-50545
- Priority: Routine
- CVSS: 5.5 (medium)
- EPSS: 0.0021
- CISA KEV: not listed
- Exploited (vendor report): no
- Publicly disclosed: no
- Published: Oct 7, 2025

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:  r6040: Fix kmemleak in probe and remove  There is a memory leaks reported by kmemleak:    unreferenced object 0xffff888116111000 (size 2048):     comm "modprobe", pid 817, jiffies 4294759745 (age 76.502s)     hex dump (first 32 bytes):       00 c4 0a 04 81 88 ff ff 08 10 11 16 81 88 ff ff  ................       08 10 11 16 81 88 ff ff 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  ................     backtrace:       [<ffffffff815bcd82>] kmalloc_trace+0x22/0x60       [<ffffffff827e20ee>] phy_device_create+0x4e/0x90       [<ffffffff827e6072>] get_phy_device+0xd2/0x220       [<ffffffff827e7844>] mdiobus_scan+0xa4/0x2e0       [<ffffffff827e8be2>] __mdiobus_register+0x482/0x8b0       [<ffffffffa01f5d24>] r6040_init_one+0x714/0xd2c [r6040]       ...  The problem occurs in probe process as follows:   r6040_init_one:     mdiobus_register       mdiobus_scan    <- alloc and register phy_device,                          the reference count of phy_device is 3     r6040_mii_probe       phy_connect     <- connect to the first phy_device,                          so the reference count of the first                          phy_device is 4, others are 3     register_netdev   <- fault inject succeeded, goto error handling path      // error handling path     err_out_mdio_unregister:       mdiobus_unregister(lp->mii_bus);     err_out_mdio:       mdiobus_free(lp->mii_bus);    <- the reference count of the first                                        phy_device is 1, it is not released                                        and other phy_devices are released   // similarly, the remove process also has the same problem  The root cause is traced to the phy_device is not disconnected when removes one r6040 device in r6040_remove_one() or on error handling path after r6040_mii probed successfully. In r6040_mii_probe(), a net ethernet device is connected to the first PHY device of mii_bus, in order to notify the connected driver when the link status changes, which is the default behavior of the PHY infrastructure to handle everything. Therefore the phy_device should be disconnected when removes one r6040 device or on error handling path.  Fix it by adding phy_disconnect() when removes one r6040 device or on error handling path after r6040_mii probed successfully.

## Where it's fixed

| Platform | Product | Fixed in | Fix | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | linux Debian 12.15 (bookworm) | 6.1.4-1 | [DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50545](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/debian-cve-2022-50545.md) | Oct 7, 2025 |
| Linux | linux Debian 13.5 (trixie) | 6.1.4-1 | [DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50545](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/debian-cve-2022-50545.md) | Oct 7, 2025 |
| Linux | linux Debian 14 | 6.1.4-1 | [DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50545](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/debian-cve-2022-50545.md) | Oct 7, 2025 |

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