Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2022-48855

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-07-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.9.307 / 4.14.272 or later.
See remediation →
73/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click Patch available

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
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sctp: fix kernel-infoleak for SCTP sockets syzbot reported a kernel infoleak [1] of 4 bytes. After analysis, it turned out r->idiag_expires is not initialized if inet_sctp_diag_fill() calls inet_diag_msg_common_fill() Make sure to clear idiag_timer/idiag_retrans/idiag_expires and let inet_diag_msg_sctpasoc_fill() fill them again if needed. [1] BUG: KMSAN: kernel-infoleak in instrument_copy_to_user include/linux/instrumented.h:121 [inline] BUG: KMSAN: kernel-infoleak in copyout lib/iov_iter.c:154 [inline] BUG: KMSAN: kernel-infoleak in _copy_to_iter+0x6ef/0x25a0 lib/iov_iter.c:668 instrument_copy_to_user include/linux/instrumented.h:121 [inline] copyout lib/iov_iter.c:154 [inline] _copy_to_iter+0x6ef/0x25a0 lib/iov_iter.c:668 copy_to_iter include/linux/uio.h:162 [inline] simple_copy_to_iter+0xf3/0x140 net/core/datagram.c:519 __skb_datagram_iter+0x2d5/0x11b0 net/core/datagram.c:425 skb_copy_datagram_iter+0xdc/0x270 net/core/datagram.c:533 skb_copy_datagram_msg include/linux/skbuff.h:3696 [inline] netlink_recvmsg+0x669/0x1c80 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1977 sock_recvmsg_nosec net/socket.c:948 [inline] sock_recvmsg net/socket.c:966 [inline] __sys_recvfrom+0x795/0xa10 net/socket.c:2097 __do_sys_recvfrom net/socket.c:2115 [inline] __se_sys_recvfrom net/socket.c:2111 [inline] __x64_sys_recvfrom+0x19d/0x210 net/socket.c:2111 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:51 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x54/0xd0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:82 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae Uninit was created at: slab_post_alloc_hook mm/slab.h:737 [inline] slab_alloc_node mm/slub.c:3247 [inline] __kmalloc_node_track_caller+0xe0c/0x1510 mm/slub.c:4975 kmalloc_reserve net/core/skbuff.c:354 [inline] __alloc_skb+0x545/0xf90 net/core/skbuff.c:426 alloc_skb include/linux/skbuff.h:1158 [inline] netlink_dump+0x3e5/0x16c0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2248 __netlink_dump_start+0xcf8/0xe90 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2373 netlink_dump_start include/linux/netlink.h:254 [inline] inet_diag_handler_cmd+0x2e7/0x400 net/ipv4/inet_diag.c:1341 sock_diag_rcv_msg+0x24a/0x620 netlink_rcv_skb+0x40c/0x7e0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2494 sock_diag_rcv+0x63/0x80 net/core/sock_diag.c:277 netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1317 [inline] netlink_unicast+0x1093/0x1360 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1343 netlink_sendmsg+0x14d9/0x1720 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1919 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:705 [inline] sock_sendmsg net/socket.c:725 [inline] sock_write_iter+0x594/0x690 net/socket.c:1061 do_iter_readv_writev+0xa7f/0xc70 do_iter_write+0x52c/0x1500 fs/read_write.c:851 vfs_writev fs/read_write.c:924 [inline] do_writev+0x645/0xe00 fs/read_write.c:967 __do_sys_writev fs/read_write.c:1040 [inline] __se_sys_writev fs/read_write.c:1037 [inline] __x64_sys_writev+0xe5/0x120 fs/read_write.c:1037 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:51 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x54/0xd0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:82 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae Bytes 68-71 of 2508 are uninitialized Memory access of size 2508 starts at ffff888114f9b000 Data copied to user address 00007f7fe09ff2e0 CPU: 1 PID: 3478 Comm: syz-executor306 Not tainted 5.17.0-rc4-syzkaller #0 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 01/01/2011

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-401

Allocated memory is never released on some path, so a long-running service or a repeatedly triggered request steadily consumes memory until performance degrades or the process crashes. Attackers exploit it by simply driving the leaking path. Remediation is pairing every allocation with a release and using ownership patterns or tooling to catch what leaks.

General guidance for the memory leak 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
Affected:>= 4.7, < 4.9.307>= 4.10, < 4.14.272>= 4.15, < 4.19.235>= 4.20, < 5.4.185>= 5.5, < 5.10.106>= 5.11, < 5.15.29>= 5.16, < 5.16.15

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
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 4.9.307 / 4.14.272 / 4.19.235 or later
Fixed in 4.9.3074.14.2724.19.235
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to one of: 4.9.307, 4.14.272, 4.19.235, or 5.4.185 (or later stable releases in respective branches)

  1. Upgrade the Linux kernel to a version that includes the fix: 4.9.307+, 4.14.272+, 4.19.235+, or 5.4.185+
  2. After kernel upgrade, reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  3. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version: uname -r
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require reboot and could introduce compatibility issues with older drivers or modules; ensure compatibility with existing system configuration before upgrading

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

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,950. Get the upgrade done

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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-2022-48855 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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