dbcve.org
Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2022-49523

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-26
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.10.121 / 5.15.46 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: ath11k: disable spectral scan during spectral deinit When ath11k modules are removed using rmmod with spectral scan enabled, crash is observed. Different crash trace is observed for each crash. Send spectral scan disable WMI command to firmware before cleaning the spectral dbring in the spectral_deinit API to avoid this crash. call trace from one of the crash observed: [ 1252.880802] Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 00000008 [ 1252.882722] pgd = 0f42e886 [ 1252.890955] [00000008] *pgd=00000000 [ 1252.893478] Internal error: Oops: 5 [#1] PREEMPT SMP ARM [ 1253.093035] CPU: 0 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/0 Not tainted 5.4.89 #0 [ 1253.115261] Hardware name: Generic DT based system [ 1253.121149] PC is at ath11k_spectral_process_data+0x434/0x574 [ath11k] [ 1253.125940] LR is at 0x88e31017 [ 1253.132448] pc : [<7f9387b8>] lr : [<88e31017>] psr: a0000193 [ 1253.135488] sp : 80d01bc8 ip : 00000001 fp : 970e0000 [ 1253.141737] r10: 88e31000 r9 : 970ec000 r8 : 00000080 [ 1253.146946] r7 : 94734040 r6 : a0000113 r5 : 00000057 r4 : 00000000 [ 1253.152159] r3 : e18cb694 r2 : 00000217 r1 : 1df1f000 r0 : 00000001 [ 1253.158755] Flags: NzCv IRQs off FIQs on Mode SVC_32 ISA ARM Segment user [ 1253.165266] Control: 10c0383d Table: 5e71006a DAC: 00000055 [ 1253.172472] Process swapper/0 (pid: 0, stack limit = 0x60870141) [ 1253.458055] [<7f9387b8>] (ath11k_spectral_process_data [ath11k]) from [<7f917fdc>] (ath11k_dbring_buffer_release_event+0x214/0x2e4 [ath11k]) [ 1253.466139] [<7f917fdc>] (ath11k_dbring_buffer_release_event [ath11k]) from [<7f8ea3c4>] (ath11k_wmi_tlv_op_rx+0x1840/0x29cc [ath11k]) [ 1253.478807] [<7f8ea3c4>] (ath11k_wmi_tlv_op_rx [ath11k]) from [<7f8fe868>] (ath11k_htc_rx_completion_handler+0x180/0x4e0 [ath11k]) [ 1253.490699] [<7f8fe868>] (ath11k_htc_rx_completion_handler [ath11k]) from [<7f91308c>] (ath11k_ce_per_engine_service+0x2c4/0x3b4 [ath11k]) [ 1253.502386] [<7f91308c>] (ath11k_ce_per_engine_service [ath11k]) from [<7f9a4198>] (ath11k_pci_ce_tasklet+0x28/0x80 [ath11k_pci]) [ 1253.514811] [<7f9a4198>] (ath11k_pci_ce_tasklet [ath11k_pci]) from [<8032227c>] (tasklet_action_common.constprop.2+0x64/0xe8) [ 1253.526476] [<8032227c>] (tasklet_action_common.constprop.2) from [<803021e8>] (__do_softirq+0x130/0x2d0) [ 1253.537756] [<803021e8>] (__do_softirq) from [<80322610>] (irq_exit+0xcc/0xe8) [ 1253.547304] [<80322610>] (irq_exit) from [<8036a4a4>] (__handle_domain_irq+0x60/0xb4) [ 1253.554428] [<8036a4a4>] (__handle_domain_irq) from [<805eb348>] (gic_handle_irq+0x4c/0x90) [ 1253.562321] [<805eb348>] (gic_handle_irq) from [<80301a78>] (__irq_svc+0x58/0x8c) Tested-on: QCN6122 hw1.0 AHB WLAN.HK.2.6.0.1-00851-QCAHKSWPL_SILICONZ-1

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:< 5.10.121>= 5.11, < 5.15.46>= 5.16, < 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 5.10.121 / 5.15.46 / 5.17.14 or later
Fixed in 5.10.1215.15.465.17.14
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux kernel >= 5.15.46 (LTS recommended) or >= 5.17.14 or >= 5.18.3 depending on current branch

  1. 1. Identify the currently running kernel version using 'uname -r'
  2. 2. Determine the appropriate upgrade target based on your current version: if < 5.10.121 upgrade to >=5.10.121, if >=5.11 and <5.15.46 upgrade to >=5.15.46, if >=5.16 and <5.17.14 upgrade to >=5.17.14, if >=5.18 and <5.18.3 upgrade to >=5.18.3
  3. 3. Update the Linux kernel package via your distribution's package manager (e.g., apt-get update && apt-get upgrade, yum update, dnf upgrade, or pacman -Syu)
  4. 4. Reboot the system to load the new kernel
  5. 5. Verify the new kernel version is loaded using 'uname -r'
  6. 6. If using ath11k wireless driver, test that spectral scan can be enabled and disabled without causing a kernel panic
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebuild of out-of-tree modules; ensure ath11k drivers are compatible with 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 $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-2022-49523 — 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-2022-49523 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