high CVSS 7.1

CVE-2022-49444·Kernel vulnerability

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: module: fix [e_shstrndx].sh_size=0 OOB access It is trivial to craft a module to trigger OOB access in this line: if (info->secstrings[strhdr->sh_size - 1] != '\0') { BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: ffffc90000aa0fff PGD 100000067 P4D 100000067 PUD 100066067 PMD 10436f067 PTE 0 Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP PTI CPU: 7 PID: 1215 Comm: insmod Not tainted 5.18.0-rc5-00007-g9bf578647087-dirty #10 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.14.0-4.fc34 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:load_module+0x19b/0x2391 [rebased patch onto modules-next]

Severity
high
Software
Kernel
Fixed in
5.18.3
Published
2025-02-26

Affected versions

From: 5.18

Until: 5.18.3

Fixed in: 5.18.3

How to fix this CVE

Update your Linux kernel to version 5.18.3 or later to resolve an out-of-bounds memory access vulnerability triggered during kernel module loading. This vulnerability allows a local attacker with module loading privileges to cause a kernel panic or potentially execute arbitrary code. Prioritize this update for systems that allow unprivileged users to load kernel modules or run in containerized environments.

sudo dnf update kernel kernel-devel

Defensia detects this vulnerability

How to check if you are affected

  1. Check your kernel version: uname -r — verify it is 5.18.3 or later
  2. Confirm the vulnerable kernel component by checking module loading capabilities: grep -i 'CONFIG_MODULES' /boot/config-$(uname -r)
  3. Search system logs for kernel panic messages related to module loading: sudo journalctl -xe | grep -i 'insmod\|module.*oops\|page fault'
  4. After patching, reboot and re-run uname -r to confirm the new kernel version is active

FAQ

What is CVE-2022-49444?

CVE-2022-49444 is a kernel vulnerability in the module loading subsystem that fails to validate the string table header size, leading to out-of-bounds memory access when a crafted kernel module is loaded. This can crash the kernel or potentially allow code execution with elevated privileges.

Is CVE-2022-49444 being actively exploited?

No, this vulnerability is not listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog and no public exploits are currently available, though proof-of-concept code demonstrating the OOB access exists.

What versions of Kernel are affected by CVE-2022-49444?

Linux kernel versions 5.18.0 through 5.18.2 are vulnerable. The fix is included in version 5.18.3 and all subsequent stable releases.

How do I check if my server is vulnerable to CVE-2022-49444?

Run uname -r to display your kernel version. If it shows 5.18.0, 5.18.1, or 5.18.2, your system is vulnerable and requires immediate patching.

Does Defensia detect CVE-2022-49444?

Yes — Defensia's CVE advisory scanner compares installed package versions against the NVD database. If the Linux kernel is installed on a monitored server, CVE-2022-49444 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-2021-47548CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ethernet: hisilicon: hns: hns_dsaf_misc: fix a possible array overflow in hns_dsaf_ge_srst_by_port() The if statement: if (port >= DSAF_GE_NUM) return; limits the value of port less than DSAF_GE_NUM (i.e., 8). However, if the value of port is 6 or 7, an array overflow could occur: port_rst_off = dsaf_dev->mac_cb[port]->port_rst_off; because the length of dsaf_dev->mac_cb is DSAF_MAX_PORT_NUM (i.e., 6). To fix this possible array overflow, we first check port and if it is greater than or equal to DSAF_MAX_PORT_NUM, the function returns.

References

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