Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2022-49073

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-26
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.19.238 / 5.4.189 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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: ata: sata_dwc_460ex: Fix crash due to OOB write the driver uses libata's "tag" values from in various arrays. Since the mentioned patch bumped the ATA_TAG_INTERNAL to 32, the value of the SATA_DWC_QCMD_MAX needs to account for that. Otherwise ATA_TAG_INTERNAL usage cause similar crashes like this as reported by Tice Rex on the OpenWrt Forum and reproduced (with symbols) here: | BUG: Kernel NULL pointer dereference at 0x00000000 | Faulting instruction address: 0xc03ed4b8 | Oops: Kernel access of bad area, sig: 11 [#1] | BE PAGE_SIZE=4K PowerPC 44x Platform | CPU: 0 PID: 362 Comm: scsi_eh_1 Not tainted 5.4.163 #0 | NIP: c03ed4b8 LR: c03d27e8 CTR: c03ed36c | REGS: cfa59950 TRAP: 0300 Not tainted (5.4.163) | MSR: 00021000 <CE,ME> CR: 42000222 XER: 00000000 | DEAR: 00000000 ESR: 00000000 | GPR00: c03d27e8 cfa59a08 cfa55fe0 00000000 0fa46bc0 [...] | [..] | NIP [c03ed4b8] sata_dwc_qc_issue+0x14c/0x254 | LR [c03d27e8] ata_qc_issue+0x1c8/0x2dc | Call Trace: | [cfa59a08] [c003f4e0] __cancel_work_timer+0x124/0x194 (unreliable) | [cfa59a78] [c03d27e8] ata_qc_issue+0x1c8/0x2dc | [cfa59a98] [c03d2b3c] ata_exec_internal_sg+0x240/0x524 | [cfa59b08] [c03d2e98] ata_exec_internal+0x78/0xe0 | [cfa59b58] [c03d30fc] ata_read_log_page.part.38+0x1dc/0x204 | [cfa59bc8] [c03d324c] ata_identify_page_supported+0x68/0x130 | [...] This is because sata_dwc_dma_xfer_complete() NULLs the dma_pending's next neighbour "chan" (a *dma_chan struct) in this '32' case right here (line ~735): > hsdevp->dma_pending[tag] = SATA_DWC_DMA_PENDING_NONE; Then the next time, a dma gets issued; dma_dwc_xfer_setup() passes the NULL'd hsdevp->chan to the dmaengine_slave_config() which then causes the crash. With this patch, SATA_DWC_QCMD_MAX is now set to ATA_MAX_QUEUE + 1. This avoids the OOB. But please note, there was a worthwhile discussion on what ATA_TAG_INTERNAL and ATA_MAX_QUEUE is. And why there should not be a "fake" 33 command-long queue size. Ideally, the dw driver should account for the ATA_TAG_INTERNAL. In Damien Le Moal's words: "... having looked at the driver, it is a bigger change than just faking a 33rd "tag" that is in fact not a command tag at all." BugLink: https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/issues/9505

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-787

The program writes past the bounds of a buffer, overwriting adjacent memory an attacker can turn to their advantage. Crafted input can overwrite control data and redirect execution. Remediation is validating every index and length before a write, plus modern memory-safety mitigations.

General guidance for the out-of-bounds write 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:>= 4.18, < 4.19.238>= 4.20, < 5.4.189>= 5.5, < 5.10.111>= 5.11, < 5.15.34>= 5.16, < 5.16.20>= 5.17, < 5.17.3= 5.18

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
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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 4.19.238 / 5.4.189 / 5.10.111 or later
Fixed in 4.19.2385.4.1895.10.111
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel version 5.15.34 or later (or the equivalent fixed version in your branch: 4.19.238+, 5.4.189+, or 5.10.111+)

  1. Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using 'uname -r'
  2. Determine which major kernel branch your version belongs to (e.g., 4.19.x, 5.4.x, 5.10.x, or 5.15.x)
  3. Plan a kernel upgrade to a version that contains the fix: 4.19.238 or later for 4.18-4.19 kernels; 5.4.189 or later for 5.4.x kernels; 5.10.111 or later for 5.10.x kernels; 5.15.34 or later for 5.15+ kernels
  4. Schedule a maintenance window for the kernel upgrade
  5. Back up any critical data before proceeding with the upgrade
  6. Apply the kernel upgrade through your distribution's package manager or by rebuilding from source
  7. Reboot the system to load the new kernel
  8. Verify the fix is applied by checking that SATA_DWC_QCMD_MAX is now set to ATA_MAX_QUEUE + 1 in the driver source, or confirm the kernel version is past the fixed releases
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebuilding out-of-tree kernel modules; ensure compatible drivers are available for the new kernel version

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 $3,200. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-49073 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-49073 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