high CVSS 7.8 EPSS <0.1%

CVE-2022-49196·Kernel vulnerability

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: powerpc/pseries: Fix use after free in remove_phb_dynamic() In remove_phb_dynamic() we use &phb->io_resource, after we've called device_unregister(&host_bridge->dev). But the unregister may have freed phb, because pcibios_free_controller_deferred() is the release function for the host_bridge. If there are no outstanding references when we call device_unregister() then phb will be freed out from under us. This has gone mainly unnoticed, but with slub_debug and page_poison enabled it can lead to a crash: PID: 7574 TASK: c0000000d492cb80 CPU: 13 COMMAND: "drmgr" #0 [c0000000e4f075a0] crash_kexec at c00000000027d7dc #1 [c0000000e4f075d0] oops_end at c000000000029608 #2 [c0000000e4f07650] __bad_page_fault at c0000000000904b4 #3 [c0000000e4f076c0] do_bad_slb_fault at c00000000009a5a8 #4 [c0000000e4f076f0] data_access_slb_common_virt at c000000000008b30 Data SLB Access [380] exception frame: R0: c000000000167250 R1: c0000000e4f07a00 R2: c000000002a46100 R3: c000000002b39ce8 R4: 00000000000000c0 R5: 00000000000000a9 R6: 3894674d000000c0 R7: 0000000000000000 R8: 00000000000000ff R9: 0000000000000100 R10: 6b6b6b6b6b6b6b6b R11: 0000000000008000 R12: c00000000023da80 R13: c0000009ffd38b00 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 000000011c87f0f0 R16: 0000000000000006 R17: 0000000000000003 R18: 0000000000000002 R19: 0000000000000004 R20: 0000000000000005 R21: 000000011c87ede8 R22: 000000011c87c5a8 R23: 000000011c87d3a0 R24: 0000000000000000 R25: 0000000000000001 R26: c0000000e4f07cc8 R27: c00000004d1cc400 R28: c0080000031d00e8 R29: c00000004d23d800 R30: c00000004d1d2400 R31: c00000004d1d2540 NIP: c000000000167258 MSR: 8000000000009033 OR3: c000000000e9f474 CTR: 0000000000000000 LR: c000000000167250 XER: 0000000020040003 CCR: 0000000024088420 MQ: 0000000000000000 DAR: 6b6b6b6b6b6b6ba3 DSISR: c0000000e4f07920 Syscall Result: fffffffffffffff2 [NIP : release_resource+56] [LR : release_resource+48] #5 [c0000000e4f07a00] release_resource at c000000000167258 (unreliable) #6 [c0000000e4f07a30] remove_phb_dynamic at c000000000105648 #7 [c0000000e4f07ab0] dlpar_remove_slot at c0080000031a09e8 [rpadlpar_io] #8 [c0000000e4f07b50] remove_slot_store at c0080000031a0b9c [rpadlpar_io] #9 [c0000000e4f07be0] kobj_attr_store at c000000000817d8c #10 [c0000000e4f07c00] sysfs_kf_write at c00000000063e504 #11 [c0000000e4f07c20] kernfs_fop_write_iter at c00000000063d868 #12 [c0000000e4f07c70] new_sync_write at c00000000054339c #13 [c0000000e4f07d10] vfs_write at c000000000546624 #14 [c0000000e4f07d60] ksys_write at c0000000005469f4 #15 [c0000000e4f07db0] system_call_exception at c000000000030840 #16 [c0000000e4f07e10] system_call_vectored_common at c00000000000c168 To avoid it, we can take a reference to the host_bridge->dev until we're done using phb. Then when we drop the reference the phb will be freed.

Severity
high
Software
Kernel
Fixed in
5.17.2
Published

How likely is exploitation

FIRST's Exploit Prediction Scoring System puts the probability of this CVE being exploited in the next 30 days at <0.1% — higher than 11% of all published CVEs. EPSS is an independent forecast of exploitation, not a severity rating: it says nothing about how much damage a successful attack does, which is what a CVSS score measures.

Read the two together. CVE-2022-49196 scores 7.8 on CVSS, so a successful attack would be serious — but at <0.1%, almost nobody is currently attempting it. That is a different situation from a flaw under mass exploitation, and it is usually the difference between patching on your next maintenance window and patching tonight.

Affected versions

From: 5.17

Until: 5.17.2

Fixed in: 5.17.2

How to fix this CVE

Update your Linux kernel to version 5.17.2 or later to resolve a critical use-after-free vulnerability in PowerPC PCI host bridge removal. This flaw can cause kernel crashes during dynamic PCI slot removal operations on POWER systems. Apply the patch immediately to prevent unexpected system failures.

sudo dnf update kernel kernel-devel

Defensia detects this vulnerability

How to check if you are affected

  1. Check the current kernel version: uname -r
  2. Verify if your system is PowerPC-based: uname -m (look for ppc64, ppc64le)
  3. Review system logs for crashes during PCI device hotplug operations: dmesg | grep -i 'phb\|pci.*hot'
  4. Confirm the patch is applied by checking kernel source commit hash: grep -i 'remove_phb_dynamic' /boot/config-$(uname -r) || strings /boot/vmlinuz-$(uname -r) | grep -i phb_dynamic
  5. Verify the installed kernel is >= 5.17.2: if [[ $(uname -r | cut -d. -f1-3) < 5.17.2 ]]; then echo 'Vulnerable'; fi

FAQ

What is CVE-2022-49196?

CVE-2022-49196 is a use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's PowerPC PCI subsystem where the remove_phb_dynamic() function references freed memory after calling device_unregister(). This occurs because the host bridge device release function may deallocate the PCI host bridge structure prematurely, causing crashes when memory debugging is enabled.

Is CVE-2022-49196 being actively exploited?

No, CVE-2022-49196 is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog and no public exploits are available. However, it causes crashes on affected systems, particularly when slub_debug and page_poison are enabled.

What versions of Kernel are affected by CVE-2022-49196?

Linux kernel versions 5.17 through 5.17.1 are affected. The vulnerability was fixed in kernel version 5.17.2 and later. This issue only impacts PowerPC-based systems running these kernel versions.

How do I check if my server is vulnerable to CVE-2022-49196?

Run 'uname -r' to check your kernel version—if it shows 5.17.0, 5.17.1, or 5.17 with a minor version less than 2, you are vulnerable. Additionally, verify you are on PowerPC architecture with 'uname -m' (should show ppc64 or ppc64le). Vulnerable systems will crash when performing PCI slot removal operations.

Does Defensia detect CVE-2022-49196?

Yes — Defensia's CVE advisory scanner compares installed package versions against the NVD database. If the Linux kernel is installed on a monitored PowerPC server, CVE-2022-49196 will appear in your dashboard with remediation steps.

Related Kernel CVEs

CVE-2026-63795CVSS 10In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: 9p: avoid putting oldfid in p9_client_walk() error path When p9_client_walk() is called with clone set to false, fid aliases oldfid. If the walk subsequently fails after the request has been sent, the error path jumps to clunk_fid, which currently calls p9_fid_put(fid) unconditionally. This drops a reference to oldfid even though ownership of oldfid remains with the caller. If this is the last reference, oldfid can be clunked and destroyed while the caller still expects it to be valid. A later use or put of oldfid can then trigger a use-after-free or refcount underflow. Fix this by only putting fid in the clunk_fid error path when it does not alias oldfid, matching the existing guard in the error path below. This can be triggered when a multi-component walk is split into multiple p9_client_walk() calls and a later non-cloning walk fails. A reproducer and refcount warning logs are available on request.
CVE-2026-52955CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: libceph: Fix potential out-of-bounds access in crush_decode() A message of type CEPH_MSG_OSD_MAP containing a crush map with at least one bucket has two fields holding the bucket algorithm. If the values in these two fields differ, an out-of-bounds access can occur. This is the case because the first algorithm field (alg) is used to allocate the correct amount of memory for a bucket of this type, while the second algorithm field inside the bucket (b->alg) is used in the subsequent processing. This patch fixes the issue by adding a check that compares alg and b->alg and aborts the processing in case they differ. Furthermore, b->alg is set to 0 in this case, because the destruction of the crush map also uses this field to determine the bucket type, which can again result in an out-of-bounds access when trying to free the memory pointed to by the fields of the bucket. To correctly free the memory allocated for the bucket in such a case, the corresponding call to kfree is moved from the algorithm-specific crush_destroy_bucket functions to the generic crush_destroy_bucket().
CVE-2026-53384CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: serial: 8250_dw: unregister 8250 port if clk_notifier_register() fails dw8250_probe() registers the 8250 port via serial8250_register_8250_port() and then, if the device has a clock, registers a clock notifier. If clk_notifier_register() fails, probe returns the error but leaves the 8250 port registered. The matching serial8250_unregister_port() lives in dw8250_remove(), which is not called when probe fails, so the port slot stays occupied until the device is rebound or the system is rebooted. The devm-allocated driver data is freed while the port still references it (via the saved private_data and serial_in/serial_out callbacks), so any access to that port slot before a rebind is a use-after-free hazard. Unregister the port on the clk_notifier_register() error path.
CVE-2026-52931CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: batman-adv: tp_meter: avoid use of uninit sender vars batadv_tp_recv_ack() and batadv_tp_stop() are only valid for tp_vars in the BATADV_TP_SENDER role. When called with a BATADV_TP_RECEIVER role, it proceeds to read sender-only members that were never initialized, leading to undefined behavior. This can be triggered when a node that is currently acting as a receiver in an ongoing tp_meter session receives a malicious ACK packet. Guard against this by checking tp_vars->role immediately after the lookup and bailing out if it is not BATADV_TP_SENDER, before any of those members are accessed.
CVE-2026-52982CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: usb: rtl8150: fix use-after-free in rtl8150_start_xmit() syzbot reported a KASAN slab-use-after-free read in rtl8150_start_xmit() when accessing skb->len for tx statistics after usb_submit_urb() has been called: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in rtl8150_start_xmit+0x71f/0x760 drivers/net/usb/rtl8150.c:712 Read of size 4 at addr ffff88810eb7a930 by task kworker/0:4/5226 The URB completion handler write_bulk_callback() frees the skb via dev_kfree_skb_irq(dev->tx_skb). The URB may complete on another CPU in softirq context before usb_submit_urb() returns in the submitter, so by the time the submitter reads skb->len the skb has already been queued to the per-CPU completion_queue and freed by net_tx_action(): CPU A (xmit) CPU B (USB completion softirq) ------------ ------------------------------ dev->tx_skb = skb; usb_submit_urb() --+ |-------> write_bulk_callback() | dev_kfree_skb_irq(dev->tx_skb) | net_tx_action() | napi_skb_cache_put() <-- free netdev->stats.tx_bytes | += skb->len; <-- UAF read Fix it by caching skb->len before submitting the URB and using the cached value when updating the tx_bytes counter. The pre-existing tx_bytes semantics are preserved: the counter tracks the original frame length (skb->len), not the ETH_ZLEN/USB-alignment padded "count" value that is handed to the device. Changing that would be a user-visible accounting change and is out of scope for this UAF fix.

References

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