CVE-2022-50661

What it is

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: seccomp: Move copy_seccomp() to no failure path. Our syzbot instance reported memory leaks in do_seccomp() [0], similar to the report [1]. It shows that we miss freeing struct seccomp_filter and some objects included in it. We can reproduce the issue with the program below [2] which calls one seccomp() and two clone() syscalls. The first clone()d child exits earlier than its parent and sends a signal to kill it during the second clone(), more precisely before the fatal_signal_pending() test in copy_process(). When the parent receives the signal, it has to destroy the embryonic process and return -EINTR to user space. In the failure path, we have to call seccomp_filter_release() to decrement the filter's refcount. Initially, we called it in free_task() called from the failure path, but the commit 3a15fb6ed92c ("seccomp: release filter after task is fully dead") moved it to release_task() to notify user space as early as possible that the filter is no longer used. To keep the change and current seccomp refcount semantics, let's move copy_seccomp() just after the signal check and add a WARN_ON_ONCE() in free_task() for future debugging. [0]: unreferenced object 0xffff8880063add00 (size 256): comm "repro_seccomp", pid 230, jiffies 4294687090 (age 9.914s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 01 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ................ backtrace: do_seccomp (./include/linux/slab.h:600 ./include/linux/slab.h:733 kernel/seccomp.c:666 kernel/seccomp.c:708 kernel/seccomp.c:1871 kernel/seccomp.c:1991) do_syscall_64 (arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80) entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:120) unreferenced object 0xffffc90000035000 (size 4096): comm "repro_seccomp", pid 230, jiffies 4294687090 (age 9.915s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 05 00 00 00 ................ 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ backtrace: __vmalloc_node_range (mm/vmalloc.c:3226) __vmalloc_node (mm/vmalloc.c:3261 (discriminator 4)) bpf_prog_alloc_no_stats (kernel/bpf/core.c:91) bpf_prog_alloc (kernel/bpf/core.c:129) bpf_prog_create_from_user (net/core/filter.c:1414) do_seccomp (kernel/seccomp.c:671 kernel/seccomp.c:708 kernel/seccomp.c:1871 kernel/seccomp.c:1991) do_syscall_64 (arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80) entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:120) unreferenced object 0xffff888003fa1000 (size 1024): comm "repro_seccomp", pid 230, jiffies 4294687090 (age 9.915s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ backtrace: bpf_prog_alloc_no_stats (./include/linux/slab.h:600 ./include/linux/slab.h:733 kernel/bpf/core.c:95) bpf_prog_alloc (kernel/bpf/core.c:129) bpf_prog_create_from_user (net/core/filter.c:1414) do_seccomp (kernel/seccomp.c:671 kernel/seccomp.c:708 kernel/seccomp.c:1871 kernel/seccomp.c:1991) do_syscall_64 (arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80) entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:120) unreferenced object 0xffff888006360240 (size 16): comm "repro_seccomp", pid 230, jiffies 4294687090 (age 9.915s) hex dump (first 16 bytes): 01 00 37 00 76 65 72 6c e0 83 01 06 80 88 ff ff ..7.verl........ backtrace: bpf_prog_store_orig_filter (net/core/filter.c:1137) bpf_prog_create_from_user (net/core/filter.c:1428) do_seccomp (kernel/seccomp.c:671 kernel/seccomp.c:708 kernel/seccomp.c:1871 kernel/seccomp.c:1991) do_syscall_64 (arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80) entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:120) unreferenced object 0xffff888 ---truncated---

At a glance

Exploit odds

0.3% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).

Fix

No patch or advisory is linked yet. Look at mitigations or restrict exposure.

Timeline

1. 2025-12-09 16:17 UTC PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
2. 2026-11-10 12:10 UTC Last updatedMost recent change to the record

Why it ranks here

• Exploited in the wild: no, CISA does not list it.
• Exploit odds: 0.3% in the next 30 days (EPSS).
• Severity: not scored yet.
• Fix: none linked yet, which raises it.

Details

Published

2025-12-09 16:17 UTC

Last modified

2026-11-10 12:10 UTC

Exploit probability

0.3% · EPSS, next 30 days

Record status

Deferred

Is it in your code?

Hand this to your coding agent. It searches your project for the affected products and checks versions. Nothing leaves your machine.

Read https://cve-list.com/agent/cve/CVE-2022-50661.md and follow it. Check whether this project is affected by CVE-2022-50661. Read only. Don't change anything and don't upload my code. Tell me yes, no or not sure, with the file as proof.

Copy as ticket · More options · Status badge