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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2022-49235

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-26
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.9.311 / 4.14.276 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: ath9k_htc: fix uninit value bugs Syzbot reported 2 KMSAN bugs in ath9k. All of them are caused by missing field initialization. In htc_connect_service() svc_meta_len and pad are not initialized. Based on code it looks like in current skb there is no service data, so simply initialize svc_meta_len to 0. htc_issue_send() does not initialize htc_frame_hdr::control array. Based on firmware code, it will initialize it by itself, so simply zero whole array to make KMSAN happy Fail logs: BUG: KMSAN: kernel-usb-infoleak in usb_submit_urb+0x6c1/0x2aa0 drivers/usb/core/urb.c:430 usb_submit_urb+0x6c1/0x2aa0 drivers/usb/core/urb.c:430 hif_usb_send_regout drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/hif_usb.c:127 [inline] hif_usb_send+0x5f0/0x16f0 drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/hif_usb.c:479 htc_issue_send drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/htc_hst.c:34 [inline] htc_connect_service+0x143e/0x1960 drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/htc_hst.c:275 ... Uninit was created at: slab_post_alloc_hook mm/slab.h:524 [inline] slab_alloc_node mm/slub.c:3251 [inline] __kmalloc_node_track_caller+0xe0c/0x1510 mm/slub.c:4974 kmalloc_reserve net/core/skbuff.c:354 [inline] __alloc_skb+0x545/0xf90 net/core/skbuff.c:426 alloc_skb include/linux/skbuff.h:1126 [inline] htc_connect_service+0x1029/0x1960 drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/htc_hst.c:258 ... Bytes 4-7 of 18 are uninitialized Memory access of size 18 starts at ffff888027377e00 BUG: KMSAN: kernel-usb-infoleak in usb_submit_urb+0x6c1/0x2aa0 drivers/usb/core/urb.c:430 usb_submit_urb+0x6c1/0x2aa0 drivers/usb/core/urb.c:430 hif_usb_send_regout drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/hif_usb.c:127 [inline] hif_usb_send+0x5f0/0x16f0 drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/hif_usb.c:479 htc_issue_send drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/htc_hst.c:34 [inline] htc_connect_service+0x143e/0x1960 drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/htc_hst.c:275 ... Uninit was created at: slab_post_alloc_hook mm/slab.h:524 [inline] slab_alloc_node mm/slub.c:3251 [inline] __kmalloc_node_track_caller+0xe0c/0x1510 mm/slub.c:4974 kmalloc_reserve net/core/skbuff.c:354 [inline] __alloc_skb+0x545/0xf90 net/core/skbuff.c:426 alloc_skb include/linux/skbuff.h:1126 [inline] htc_connect_service+0x1029/0x1960 drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/htc_hst.c:258 ... Bytes 16-17 of 18 are uninitialized Memory access of size 18 starts at ffff888027377e00

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-908

Memory or a resource is used before it has been initialised, so its contents are whatever happened to be there — sometimes leaking earlier data, sometimes values an attacker can influence. Behaviour becomes unpredictable and occasionally exploitable. Remediation is initialising every resource before use and ensuring initialisation happens on all code paths.

General guidance for the use of uninitialized resource 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:>= 2.6.35, < 4.9.311>= 4.10, < 4.14.276>= 4.15, < 4.19.238>= 4.20, < 5.4.189>= 5.5, < 5.10.110>= 5.11, < 5.15.33>= 5.16, < 5.16.19>= 5.17, < 5.17.2

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 4.9.311 / 4.14.276 / 4.19.238 or later
Fixed in 4.9.3114.14.2764.19.238
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Any stable kernel >= 5.4.189 (or >= 4.19.238, >= 4.14.276, or >= 4.9.311 depending on your branch)

  1. Upgrade the Linux kernel to a version that includes the fix commit 0b700f7d06492de34964b6f414120043364f8191
  2. For 4.9.x branch: upgrade to >= 4.9.311
  3. For 4.14.x branch: upgrade to >= 4.14.276
  4. For 4.19.x branch: upgrade to >= 4.19.238
  5. For 5.4.x branch: upgrade to >= 5.4.189
  6. Alternatively, upgrade to any stable kernel release >= 5.5 that contains the fix
  7. After kernel upgrade, reboot the system to load the patched kernel
Caveat Kernel upgrades may introduce regression or require rebuild of out-of-tree modules; ensure ath9k_htc driver and wireless stack are properly loaded after reboot

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 $1,600. 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-2022-49235 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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