CVE-2022-50539
Description
A reference leak flaw was found in the Linux kernel's OMAP4 platform code in the SRAM initialization logic. A local user on ARM OMAP4 systems can trigger this issue during system initialization when of_find_compatible_node returns a device tree node pointer with an incremented reference count that is never released. This results in a permanent reference leak preventing proper device tree node cleanup and leading to resource exhaustion or denial of service.
Statement
The omap4_sram_init function uses of_find_compatible_node to locate compatible device tree nodes for SRAM configuration. This function increments the node's reference count when returning a match, requiring the caller to balance this with of_node_put when finished. The OMAP4 code fails to release this reference after using the node, violating device tree reference counting conventions. While this occurs during early boot initialization rather than runtime, the leaked reference persists for the system's lifetime and represents a resource management violation. The issue affects ARM OMAP4 platforms, which are primarily embedded systems and older mobile devices.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 5.5 | 5.5 | N/A |
| Attack Vector | Local | Local | N/A |
| Attack Complexity | Low | Low | N/A |
| Privileges Required | Low | Low | N/A |
| User Interaction | None | None | N/A |
| Scope | Unchanged | Unchanged | N/A |
| Confidentiality | None | None | N/A |
| Integrity Impact | None | None | N/A |
| Availability Impact | High | High | N/A |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory); DoS: Resource Consumption (Other)
An adversary that can cause a resource counter to become inaccurate may be able to create situations where resources are not accounted for and not released, thus causing resources to become scarce for future needs.
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
An adversary that can cause a resource counter to become inaccurate may be able to force an error that causes the product to crash or exit out of its current operation.
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