Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2022-48762
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: arm64: extable: fix load_unaligned_zeropad() reg indices In ex_handler_load_unaligned_zeropad() we erroneously extract the data and addr register indices from ex->type rather than ex->data. As ex->type will contain EX_TYPE_LOAD_UNALIGNED_ZEROPAD (i.e. 4): * We'll always treat X0 as the address register, since EX_DATA_REG_ADDR is extracted from bits [9:5]. Thus, we may attempt to dereference an arbitrary address as X0 may hold an arbitrary value. * We'll always treat X4 as the data register, since EX_DATA_REG_DATA is extracted from bits [4:0]. Thus we will corrupt X4 and cause arbitrary behaviour within load_unaligned_zeropad() and its caller. Fix this by extracting both values from ex->data as originally intended. On an MTE-enabled QEMU image we are hitting the following crash: Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000000 Call trace: fixup_exception+0xc4/0x108 __do_kernel_fault+0x3c/0x268 do_tag_check_fault+0x3c/0x104 do_mem_abort+0x44/0xf4 el1_abort+0x40/0x64 el1h_64_sync_handler+0x60/0xa0 el1h_64_sync+0x7c/0x80 link_path_walk+0x150/0x344 path_openat+0xa0/0x7dc do_filp_open+0xb8/0x168 do_sys_openat2+0x88/0x17c __arm64_sys_openat+0x74/0xa0 invoke_syscall+0x48/0x148 el0_svc_common+0xb8/0xf8 do_el0_svc+0x28/0x88 el0_svc+0x24/0x84 el0t_64_sync_handler+0x88/0xec el0t_64_sync+0x1b4/0x1b8 Code: f8695a69 71007d1f 540000e0 927df12a (f940014a)
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 analysisThe code follows a pointer that is null, crashing the process. An attacker who can reliably trigger it turns the crash into a denial of service. The fix is checking for null before use and handling the failure path gracefully.
General guidance for the null pointer dereference 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
>= 5.16, < 5.16.5= 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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 · scoped5.16.5
Linux Kernel 5.16.5+ or 5.18+
- Upgrade the Linux kernel to version 5.16.5 or later
- Alternatively, upgrade to Linux kernel 5.18 or later which includes 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-2022-48762 — 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-2022-48762 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
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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