Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2022-48731
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 · uneditedIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/kmemleak: avoid scanning potential huge holes When using devm_request_free_mem_region() and devm_memremap_pages() to add ZONE_DEVICE memory, if requested free mem region's end pfn were huge(e.g., 0x400000000), the node_end_pfn() will be also huge (see move_pfn_range_to_zone()). Thus it creates a huge hole between node_start_pfn() and node_end_pfn(). We found on some AMD APUs, amdkfd requested such a free mem region and created a huge hole. In such a case, following code snippet was just doing busy test_bit() looping on the huge hole. for (pfn = start_pfn; pfn < end_pfn; pfn++) { struct page *page = pfn_to_online_page(pfn); if (!page) continue; ... } So we got a soft lockup: watchdog: BUG: soft lockup - CPU#6 stuck for 26s! [bash:1221] CPU: 6 PID: 1221 Comm: bash Not tainted 5.15.0-custom #1 RIP: 0010:pfn_to_online_page+0x5/0xd0 Call Trace: ? kmemleak_scan+0x16a/0x440 kmemleak_write+0x306/0x3a0 ? common_file_perm+0x72/0x170 full_proxy_write+0x5c/0x90 vfs_write+0xb9/0x260 ksys_write+0x67/0xe0 __x64_sys_write+0x1a/0x20 do_syscall_64+0x3b/0xc0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae I did some tests with the patch. (1) amdgpu module unloaded before the patch: real 0m0.976s user 0m0.000s sys 0m0.968s after the patch: real 0m0.981s user 0m0.000s sys 0m0.973s (2) amdgpu module loaded before the patch: real 0m35.365s user 0m0.000s sys 0m35.354s after the patch: real 0m1.049s user 0m0.000s sys 0m1.042s
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 analysisShared resources are accessed without correct locking, so concurrent operations interleave into inconsistent — and sometimes exploitable — states, or deadlock the service outright. These bugs are subtle and timing-dependent. The fix is correct, consistent locking or atomic operations around every shared resource.
General guidance for the improper locking class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →
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
< 5.4.178>= 5.5, < 5.10.99>= 5.11, < 5.15.22>= 5.16, < 5.16.8= 5.17CVSS 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
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
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 · scoped5.4.1785.10.995.15.22
5.4.178+ / 5.10.99+ / 5.15.22+ / 5.16.8+ (choose the appropriate stable branch)
- Upgrade Linux kernel to version 5.4.178 or later if using the 5.4.x stable branch
- OR upgrade to version 5.10.99 or later if using the 5.10.x stable branch
- OR upgrade to version 5.15.22 or later if using the 5.15.x stable branch
- OR upgrade to version 5.16.8 or later if using the 5.16.x stable branch
- After upgrade, reboot into the new kernel to apply the fix
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-48731 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-48731 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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