high CVSS 7

CVE-2022-48759·Kernel vulnerability

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: rpmsg: char: Fix race between the release of rpmsg_ctrldev and cdev struct rpmsg_ctrldev contains a struct cdev. The current code frees the rpmsg_ctrldev struct in rpmsg_ctrldev_release_device(), but the cdev is a managed object, therefore its release is not predictable and the rpmsg_ctrldev could be freed before the cdev is entirely released, as in the backtrace below. [ 93.625603] ODEBUG: free active (active state 0) object type: timer_list hint: delayed_work_timer_fn+0x0/0x7c [ 93.636115] WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 12 at lib/debugobjects.c:488 debug_print_object+0x13c/0x1b0 [ 93.644799] Modules linked in: veth xt_cgroup xt_MASQUERADE rfcomm algif_hash algif_skcipher af_alg uinput ip6table_nat fuse uvcvideo videobuf2_vmalloc venus_enc venus_dec videobuf2_dma_contig hci_uart btandroid btqca snd_soc_rt5682_i2c bluetooth qcom_spmi_temp_alarm snd_soc_rt5682v [ 93.715175] CPU: 0 PID: 12 Comm: kworker/0:1 Tainted: G B 5.4.163-lockdep #26 [ 93.723855] Hardware name: Google Lazor (rev3 - 8) with LTE (DT) [ 93.730055] Workqueue: events kobject_delayed_cleanup [ 93.735271] pstate: 60c00009 (nZCv daif +PAN +UAO) [ 93.740216] pc : debug_print_object+0x13c/0x1b0 [ 93.744890] lr : debug_print_object+0x13c/0x1b0 [ 93.749555] sp : ffffffacf5bc7940 [ 93.752978] x29: ffffffacf5bc7940 x28: dfffffd000000000 [ 93.758448] x27: ffffffacdb11a800 x26: dfffffd000000000 [ 93.763916] x25: ffffffd0734f856c x24: dfffffd000000000 [ 93.769389] x23: 0000000000000000 x22: ffffffd0733c35b0 [ 93.774860] x21: ffffffd0751994a0 x20: ffffffd075ec27c0 [ 93.780338] x19: ffffffd075199100 x18: 00000000000276e0 [ 93.785814] x17: 0000000000000000 x16: dfffffd000000000 [ 93.791291] x15: ffffffffffffffff x14: 6e6968207473696c [ 93.796768] x13: 0000000000000000 x12: ffffffd075e2b000 [ 93.802244] x11: 0000000000000001 x10: 0000000000000000 [ 93.807723] x9 : d13400dff1921900 x8 : d13400dff1921900 [ 93.813200] x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 : 0000000000000000 [ 93.818676] x5 : 0000000000000080 x4 : 0000000000000000 [ 93.824152] x3 : ffffffd0732a0fa4 x2 : 0000000000000001 [ 93.829628] x1 : ffffffacf5bc7580 x0 : 0000000000000061 [ 93.835104] Call trace: [ 93.837644] debug_print_object+0x13c/0x1b0 [ 93.841963] __debug_check_no_obj_freed+0x25c/0x3c0 [ 93.846987] debug_check_no_obj_freed+0x18/0x20 [ 93.851669] slab_free_freelist_hook+0xbc/0x1e4 [ 93.856346] kfree+0xfc/0x2f4 [ 93.859416] rpmsg_ctrldev_release_device+0x78/0xb8 [ 93.864445] device_release+0x84/0x168 [ 93.868310] kobject_cleanup+0x12c/0x298 [ 93.872356] kobject_delayed_cleanup+0x10/0x18 [ 93.876948] process_one_work+0x578/0x92c [ 93.881086] worker_thread+0x804/0xcf8 [ 93.884963] kthread+0x2a8/0x314 [ 93.888303] ret_from_fork+0x10/0x18 The cdev_device_add/del() API was created to address this issue (see commit '233ed09d7fda ("chardev: add helper function to register char devs with a struct device")'), use it instead of cdev add/del().

Severity
high
Software
Kernel
Fixed in
5.16.5
Published
2024-06-20

Affected versions

From: 5.16

Until: 5.16.5

Fixed in: 5.16.5

How to fix this CVE

Update your Linux kernel to version 5.16.5 or later to resolve a critical race condition in the rpmsg character device driver. This vulnerability occurs when the rpmsg_ctrldev structure is freed before its associated character device is fully released, potentially causing kernel memory corruption. Apply the kernel update through your distribution's package manager and reboot to activate the patched version.

sudo dnf update kernel && sudo reboot

Defensia detects this vulnerability

How to check if you are affected

  1. Step 1: Check current kernel version with `uname -r` and compare against 5.16.5 — vulnerable versions are 5.16.0 through 5.16.4
  2. Step 2: Verify if rpmsg character device driver is loaded by running `lsmod | grep rpmsg` — presence indicates the component is active
  3. Step 3: Search kernel logs for active object debug messages with `dmesg | grep -i 'ODEBUG.*free active.*timer_list'` to identify exploitation attempts
  4. Step 4: After applying the patch, confirm kernel version with `uname -r` and verify it shows 5.16.5 or higher, then check `/sys/module/rpmsg_core/version` if available

FAQ

What is CVE-2022-48759?

CVE-2022-48759 is a race condition vulnerability in the Linux kernel's rpmsg character device driver where the rpmsg_ctrldev structure is deallocated before its embedded character device object completes its release cycle, leading to potential use-after-free and kernel memory corruption.

Is CVE-2022-48759 being actively exploited?

No, CVE-2022-48759 is not listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog and no public exploits are currently available. However, the vulnerability poses a significant local privilege escalation risk if exploited by an unprivileged user.

What versions of Kernel are affected by CVE-2022-48759?

Linux kernel versions 5.16.0 through 5.16.4 are vulnerable. The fix was released in kernel 5.16.5 and backported to stable branches.

How do I check if my server is vulnerable to CVE-2022-48759?

Run `uname -r` to get your kernel version. If it shows 5.16.0, 5.16.1, 5.16.2, 5.16.3, or 5.16.4, your system is vulnerable. Additionally, check if rpmsg is loaded with `lsmod | grep rpmsg`.

Does Defensia detect CVE-2022-48759?

Yes — Defensia's CVE advisory scanner compares installed package versions against the NVD database. If the Linux kernel is installed on a monitored server and the version is between 5.16.0 and 5.16.4, CVE-2022-48759 will appear in your dashboard with remediation steps.

Related Kernel CVEs

CVE-2024-42256CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: cifs: Fix server re-repick on subrequest retry When a subrequest is marked for needing retry, netfs will call cifs_prepare_write() which will make cifs repick the server for the op before renegotiating credits; it then calls cifs_issue_write() which invokes smb2_async_writev() - which re-repicks the server. If a different server is then selected, this causes the increment of server->in_flight to happen against one record and the decrement to happen against another, leading to misaccounting. Fix this by just removing the repick code in smb2_async_writev(). As this is only called from netfslib-driven code, cifs_prepare_write() should always have been called first, and so server should never be NULL and the preparatory step is repeated in the event that we do a retry. The problem manifests as a warning looking something like: WARNING: CPU: 4 PID: 72896 at fs/smb/client/smb2ops.c:97 smb2_add_credits+0x3f0/0x9e0 [cifs] ... RIP: 0010:smb2_add_credits+0x3f0/0x9e0 [cifs] ... smb2_writev_callback+0x334/0x560 [cifs] cifs_demultiplex_thread+0x77a/0x11b0 [cifs] kthread+0x187/0x1d0 ret_from_fork+0x34/0x60 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 Which may be triggered by a number of different xfstests running against an Azure server in multichannel mode. generic/249 seems the most repeatable, but generic/215, generic/249 and generic/308 may also show it.
CVE-2024-36031CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: keys: Fix overwrite of key expiration on instantiation The expiry time of a key is unconditionally overwritten during instantiation, defaulting to turn it permanent. This causes a problem for DNS resolution as the expiration set by user-space is overwritten to TIME64_MAX, disabling further DNS updates. Fix this by restoring the condition that key_set_expiry is only called when the pre-parser sets a specific expiry.
CVE-2024-38612CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ipv6: sr: fix invalid unregister error path The error path of seg6_init() is wrong in case CONFIG_IPV6_SEG6_LWTUNNEL is not defined. In that case if seg6_hmac_init() fails, the genl_unregister_family() isn't called. This issue exist since commit 46738b1317e1 ("ipv6: sr: add option to control lwtunnel support"), and commit 5559cea2d5aa ("ipv6: sr: fix possible use-after-free and null-ptr-deref") replaced unregister_pernet_subsys() with genl_unregister_family() in this error path.
CVE-2024-38623CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs/ntfs3: Use variable length array instead of fixed size Should fix smatch warning: ntfs_set_label() error: __builtin_memcpy() 'uni->name' too small (20 vs 256)
CVE-2022-48716CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ASoC: codecs: wcd938x: fix incorrect used of portid Mixer controls have the channel id in mixer->reg, which is not same as port id. port id should be derived from chan_info array. So fix this. Without this, its possible that we could corrupt struct wcd938x_sdw_priv by accessing port_map array out of range with channel id instead of port id.

References

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