CVE-2022-49468 is a vulnerability identified in the Linux kernel's thermal management subsystem, specifically within the thermal cooling device registration process. The issue is a memory leak occurring in the function __thermal_cooling_device_register(), which is responsible for registering thermal cooling devices. During fault injection testing, it was observed that if the device registration fails, the allocated memory in thermal_cooling_device_setup_sysfs() is not properly freed because the cleanup function thermal_cooling_device_destroy_sysfs() is not called. This results in unreferenced objects remaining in memory, leading to a leak. The backtrace provided shows the allocation path through kmalloc_order_trace and __kmalloc, indicating kernel slab allocator involvement. The problem arises when device_register() fails, and the necessary cleanup is omitted, causing the kernel to retain allocated memory unnecessarily. This vulnerability affects Linux kernel versions identified by the commit hash 8ea229511e06f9635ecc338dcbe0db41a73623f0 and potentially others in the same codebase lineage. Although no known exploits are reported in the wild, the flaw could degrade system stability over time, especially in environments with frequent thermal device registration failures or restarts. The issue is technical and low-level, impacting kernel memory management related to thermal device handling, which is critical for hardware temperature regulation and system reliability.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2022-49468 primarily concerns system stability and reliability rather than direct compromise of confidentiality or integrity. The memory leak could lead to gradual exhaustion of kernel memory resources, potentially causing system slowdowns, crashes, or reboots if thermal devices fail to register correctly or if the system undergoes frequent thermal subsystem reinitializations. This is particularly relevant for data centers, cloud providers, and enterprises running Linux-based servers or embedded systems where uptime and hardware temperature management are critical. Industrial control systems, telecommunications infrastructure, and IoT devices using Linux kernels with affected versions could also experience degraded performance or unexpected failures. While no direct exploitation for privilege escalation or remote code execution is indicated, the indirect effects on availability could disrupt business operations and service continuity. European organizations with large-scale Linux deployments or those in sectors relying on embedded Linux devices should be aware of this vulnerability's potential to cause operational issues.

To mitigate CVE-2022-49468, organizations should apply the official Linux kernel patches that fix the memory leak by ensuring thermal_cooling_device_destroy_sysfs() is called upon device registration failure. Kernel updates from trusted Linux distributions that incorporate this fix should be deployed promptly. For environments where immediate patching is not feasible, monitoring kernel logs for thermal device registration errors and memory usage trends can help detect symptoms of the leak. System administrators should also review custom kernel modules or drivers interacting with the thermal subsystem to ensure they handle error paths correctly. Implementing automated kernel update mechanisms and testing patches in staging environments before production rollout will reduce risk. Additionally, organizations should maintain robust backup and recovery procedures to mitigate potential downtime caused by system instability. For embedded or IoT devices, coordination with hardware vendors to receive updated firmware or kernel versions is essential. Finally, limiting unnecessary thermal device reinitializations and ensuring hardware compatibility can reduce the likelihood of triggering the leak.