dbcve.org
Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2022-2590

HIGH · 7.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-08-31
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.19.6 or later.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
A race condition was found in the way the Linux kernel's memory subsystem handled the copy-on-write (COW) breakage of private read-only shared memory mappings. This flaw allows an unprivileged, local user to gain write access to read-only memory mappings, increasing their privileges on the system.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

A race condition in the Linux kernel's memory subsystem allows unprivileged local users to exploit copy-on-write (COW) breakage of private read-only shared memory mappings, granting write access to read-only memory and enabling local privilege escalation.

MitigationApply the corresponding kernel security patch to address the race condition in COW handling. Update to a kernel version containing the fix and verify the update does not introduce regressions.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 5.16, < 5.19.6

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
High
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the running kernel version
    Run `uname -r` or check `/proc/version` to obtain the kernel version currently running on the system
    Affected if The kernel version falls within the range >= 5.16 and < 5.19.6
  2. Confirm kernel version against affected range
    Compare the installed kernel version string to the affected range (e.g., 5.16.x through 5.19.5). Note that versions 5.19.6 and later, as well as versions prior to 5.16, are not affected
    Affected if The installed kernel version is 5.16, 5.17, 5.18, or any 5.19.x version below 5.19.6
  3. Check for user namespace support
    Verify if user namespaces are enabled by checking the kernel config: `grep CONFIG_USER_NS /boot/config-$(uname -r)` or `cat /proc/sys/kernel/unprivileged_userns_clone` (if the file exists)
    Affected if User namespaces are enabled, as the vulnerability allows unprivileged local users to exploit the COW race condition

The system is affected if the running kernel version is 5.16 or higher but lower than 5.19.6, and user namespaces or the vulnerable COW memory handling is in use.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.19.6 or later
Fixed in 5.19.6
Interim mitigation

Apply the corresponding kernel security patch to address the race condition in COW handling. Update to a kernel version containing the fix and verify the update does not introduce regressions.

Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 5.19.6 or later (or latest stable kernel from kernel.org)

  1. Identify the current kernel version using 'uname -r'
  2. Backup critical data and create a system snapshot if using a virtual machine
  3. For Debian/Ubuntu-based systems: Run 'sudo apt-get update' then 'sudo apt-get install linux-image-generic' to get the latest available kernel
  4. For RHEL/CentOS-based systems: Run 'sudo yum update kernel' or 'sudo dnf update kernel'
  5. For SUSE-based systems: Run 'sudo zypper patch' or manually install a kernel-default package >= 5.19.6
  6. Reboot the system to load the new kernel using 'sudo reboot'
  7. Verify the new kernel version is >= 5.19.6 using 'uname -r'
  8. Confirm the vulnerability is resolved by checking that the specific COW race condition in the page fault handler is patched
Caveat Kernel upgrades may introduce regressions; review release notes for 5.19.6+ for any driver or feature changes that could affect system functionality

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Linux Kernel Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
21.0 hours of engineering $3,680
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Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-2590 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data