CVE-2022-48959

What it actually does

Memory leak occurs because priv->regions is not freed when dsa_devlink_region_create fails during sja1105_setup_devlink_regions.

Why it matters to the business

Long-running systems may experience gradual memory exhaustion leading to degraded performance or crashes in network switch configurations using the affected driver.

How an attack unfolds

An attacker would need local access to trigger repeated device setup failures in the sja1105 DSA driver, causing unreleased memory allocations over time; no public exploitation by listed threat actors has been observed for this specific leak.

How to fix it

Update to a fixed kernel version containing commit 3a18689dd0de856e03d081af999783f0e6e7ca70 or later; apply the patch that releases priv->regions on dsa_devlink_region_create failure.

How to confirm the fix worked

Confirm the presence of the fix commit in the kernel source; monitor memory usage during repeated setup failure scenarios to verify no leaks occur.

Typical attack path

1. Obtain local access to a system using the sja1105 DSA driver
2. Trigger repeated calls to sja1105_setup_devlink_regions that fail at dsa_devlink_region_create
3. Accumulate unreleased memory allocations until system impact

How to detect it

Inspect kernel logs and memory profiling tools for repeated allocation without corresponding frees during device region setup; no specific exploitation artifacts are known.

What your security team should do

• Prioritize patching affected Linux kernel packages containing the sja1105 driver
• Monitor for memory growth in systems using DSA switches
• Review device setup logs for repeated region creation failures