Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2022-49424

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-26
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.15.46 / 5.17 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: iommu/mediatek: Fix NULL pointer dereference when printing dev_name When larbdev is NULL (in the case I hit, the node is incorrectly set iommus = <&iommu NUM>), it will cause device_link_add() fail and kernel crashes when we try to print dev_name(larbdev). Let's fail the probe if a larbdev is NULL to avoid invalid inputs from dts. It should work for normal correct setting and avoid the crash caused by my incorrect setting. Error log: [ 18.189042][ T301] Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000050 ... [ 18.344519][ T301] pstate: a0400005 (NzCv daif +PAN -UAO) [ 18.345213][ T301] pc : mtk_iommu_probe_device+0xf8/0x118 [mtk_iommu] [ 18.346050][ T301] lr : mtk_iommu_probe_device+0xd0/0x118 [mtk_iommu] [ 18.346884][ T301] sp : ffffffc00a5635e0 [ 18.347392][ T301] x29: ffffffc00a5635e0 x28: ffffffd44a46c1d8 [ 18.348156][ T301] x27: ffffff80c39a8000 x26: ffffffd44a80cc38 [ 18.348917][ T301] x25: 0000000000000000 x24: ffffffd44a80cc38 [ 18.349677][ T301] x23: ffffffd44e4da4c6 x22: ffffffd44a80cc38 [ 18.350438][ T301] x21: ffffff80cecd1880 x20: 0000000000000000 [ 18.351198][ T301] x19: ffffff80c439f010 x18: ffffffc00a50d0c0 [ 18.351959][ T301] x17: ffffffffffffffff x16: 0000000000000004 [ 18.352719][ T301] x15: 0000000000000004 x14: ffffffd44eb5d420 [ 18.353480][ T301] x13: 0000000000000ad2 x12: 0000000000000003 [ 18.354241][ T301] x11: 00000000fffffad2 x10: c0000000fffffad2 [ 18.355003][ T301] x9 : a0d288d8d7142d00 x8 : a0d288d8d7142d00 [ 18.355763][ T301] x7 : ffffffd44c2bc640 x6 : 0000000000000000 [ 18.356524][ T301] x5 : 0000000000000080 x4 : 0000000000000001 [ 18.357284][ T301] x3 : 0000000000000000 x2 : 0000000000000005 [ 18.358045][ T301] x1 : 0000000000000000 x0 : 0000000000000000 [ 18.360208][ T301] Hardware name: MT6873 (DT) [ 18.360771][ T301] Call trace: [ 18.361168][ T301] dump_backtrace+0xf8/0x1f0 [ 18.361737][ T301] dump_stack_lvl+0xa8/0x11c [ 18.362305][ T301] dump_stack+0x1c/0x2c [ 18.362816][ T301] mrdump_common_die+0x184/0x40c [mrdump] [ 18.363575][ T301] ipanic_die+0x24/0x38 [mrdump] [ 18.364230][ T301] atomic_notifier_call_chain+0x128/0x2b8 [ 18.364937][ T301] die+0x16c/0x568 [ 18.365394][ T301] __do_kernel_fault+0x1e8/0x214 [ 18.365402][ T301] do_page_fault+0xb8/0x678 [ 18.366934][ T301] do_translation_fault+0x48/0x64 [ 18.368645][ T301] do_mem_abort+0x68/0x148 [ 18.368652][ T301] el1_abort+0x40/0x64 [ 18.368660][ T301] el1h_64_sync_handler+0x54/0x88 [ 18.368668][ T301] el1h_64_sync+0x68/0x6c [ 18.368673][ T301] mtk_iommu_probe_device+0xf8/0x118 [mtk_iommu] ...

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:>= 5.15.33, < 5.15.46>= 5.16.19, < 5.17>= 5.17.2, < 5.17.14>= 5.18, < 5.18.3

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 5.15.46 / 5.17 / 5.17.14 or later
Fixed in 5.15.465.175.17.14
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Linux kernel 5.15.46+ (for 5.15.x branch), 5.17.14+ (for 5.17.x branch), or 5.18.3+ (for 5.18.x branch). Alternatively, any stable kernel 5.19+ includes the fix.

  1. 1. Identify the current kernel version by running `uname -r` or `cat /proc/version`
  2. 2. Determine which upgrade path applies based on your current kernel branch (5.15.x, 5.16.x, 5.17.x, or 5.18.x)
  3. 3. For systems running 5.15.x (>=5.15.33): upgrade to kernel version 5.15.46 or later
  4. 4. For systems running 5.16.x or 5.17.x: upgrade to kernel version 5.17.14 or later
  5. 5. For systems running 5.18.x: upgrade to kernel version 5.18.3 or later
  6. 6. Alternatively, upgrade to any stable kernel version released after the affected versions (e.g., 5.19.x or later)
  7. 7. After kernel upgrade, verify the fix is present by checking that `mtk_iommu_probe_device` no longer dereferences a NULL larbdev without validation
Caveat No breaking changes expected; this is a defensive fix that adds NULL pointer validation in the MediaTek IOMMU driver probe function.

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

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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-2022-49424 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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