dbcve.org
Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2022-48972

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-10-21
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.9.336 / 4.14.302 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
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: mac802154: fix missing INIT_LIST_HEAD in ieee802154_if_add() Kernel fault injection test reports null-ptr-deref as follows: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000008 RIP: 0010:cfg802154_netdev_notifier_call+0x120/0x310 include/linux/list.h:114 Call Trace: <TASK> raw_notifier_call_chain+0x6d/0xa0 kernel/notifier.c:87 call_netdevice_notifiers_info+0x6e/0xc0 net/core/dev.c:1944 unregister_netdevice_many_notify+0x60d/0xcb0 net/core/dev.c:1982 unregister_netdevice_queue+0x154/0x1a0 net/core/dev.c:10879 register_netdevice+0x9a8/0xb90 net/core/dev.c:10083 ieee802154_if_add+0x6ed/0x7e0 net/mac802154/iface.c:659 ieee802154_register_hw+0x29c/0x330 net/mac802154/main.c:229 mcr20a_probe+0xaaa/0xcb1 drivers/net/ieee802154/mcr20a.c:1316 ieee802154_if_add() allocates wpan_dev as netdev's private data, but not init the list in struct wpan_dev. cfg802154_netdev_notifier_call() manage the list when device register/unregister, and may lead to null-ptr-deref. Use INIT_LIST_HEAD() on it to initialize it correctly.

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-476

The 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
Affected:>= 3.19, < 4.9.336>= 4.10, < 4.14.302>= 4.15, < 4.19.269>= 4.20, < 5.4.227>= 5.5, < 5.10.159>= 5.11, < 5.15.83>= 5.16, < 6.0.13= 6.1

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
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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 4.9.336 / 4.14.302 / 4.19.269 or later
Fixed in 4.9.3364.14.3024.19.269
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel version 4.9.336, 4.14.302, 4.19.269, or 5.4.227 or later

  1. Obtain the upstream fix commit from https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1831d4540406708e48239cf38fd9c3b7ea98e08f
  2. Locate the ieee802154_if_add() function in net/mac802154/iface.c
  3. Identify where wpan_dev is allocated (via netdev->ieee802154_ptr or similar)
  4. Add INIT_LIST_HEAD(&wpan_dev->list) immediately after wpan_dev is allocated and before it is used
  5. Alternatively, apply the vendor-stable patch directly via 'git cherry-pick' or patch application

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 $2,850. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-48972 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2022-48972 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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.

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