CVE-2022-50499: media: dvb-core: Fix double free in dvb_register_device()

Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2025-10-04 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-415

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: media: dvb-core: Fix double free in dvb_register_device() In function dvb_register_device() -> dvb_register_media_device() -> dvb_create_media_entity(), dvb->entity is allocated and initialized. If the initialization fails, it frees the dvb->entity, and return an error code. The caller takes the error code and handles the error by calling dvb_media_device_free(), which unregisters the entity and frees the field again if it is not NULL. As dvb->entity may not NULLed in dvb_create_media_entity() when the allocation of dvbdev->pad fails, a double free may occur. This may also cause an Use After free in media_device_unregister_entity(). Fix this by storing NULL to dvb->entity when it is freed.

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 4.9.195 before 4.9.337; from 4.14.147 before 4.14.303; from 4.19.77 before 4.19.270; from 5.2.19 before 5.3; from 5.3.4 before 5.4.229; from 5.5 before 5.10.163 — fixed in 4.14.303, 4.19.270, 4.9.337, 5.10.163, 5.15.87, 5.3

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 4.14.303, 4.19.270, 4.9.337, 5.10.163. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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