Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2022-48769
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: efi: runtime: avoid EFIv2 runtime services on Apple x86 machines Aditya reports [0] that his recent MacbookPro crashes in the firmware when using the variable services at runtime. The culprit appears to be a call to QueryVariableInfo(), which we did not use to call on Apple x86 machines in the past as they only upgraded from EFI v1.10 to EFI v2.40 firmware fairly recently, and QueryVariableInfo() (along with UpdateCapsule() et al) was added in EFI v2.00. The only runtime service introduced in EFI v2.00 that we actually use in Linux is QueryVariableInfo(), as the capsule based ones are optional, generally not used at runtime (all the LVFS/fwupd firmware update infrastructure uses helper EFI programs that invoke capsule update at boot time, not runtime), and not implemented by Apple machines in the first place. QueryVariableInfo() is used to 'safely' set variables, i.e., only when there is enough space. This prevents machines with buggy firmwares from corrupting their NVRAMs when they run out of space. Given that Apple machines have been using EFI v1.10 services only for the longest time (the EFI v2.0 spec was released in 2006, and Linux support for the newly introduced runtime services was added in 2011, but the MacbookPro12,1 released in 2015 still claims to be EFI v1.10 only), let's avoid the EFI v2.0 ones on all Apple x86 machines. [0] https://lore.kernel.org/all/[email protected]/
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 analysisA detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.
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
< 5.10.96>= 5.11, < 5.15.19>= 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
- 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 · scoped5.10.965.15.195.16.5
5.10.96+, 5.15.19+, 5.16.5+, or 5.18+ (choose based on current branch)
- Upgrade Linux kernel to version 5.10.96 or later if using the 5.10.x LTS branch
- Upgrade Linux kernel to version 5.15.19 or later if using the 5.15.x LTS branch
- Upgrade Linux kernel to version 5.16.5 or later if using the 5.16.x stable branch
- Upgrade Linux kernel to version 5.18 or later if using mainline (5.17 is affected, fix included in 5.18)
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-2022-48769 — 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-2022-48769 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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