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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2022-49753

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-03-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.14.305 / 4.19.272 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: dmaengine: Fix double increment of client_count in dma_chan_get() The first time dma_chan_get() is called for a channel the channel client_count is incorrectly incremented twice for public channels, first in balance_ref_count(), and again prior to returning. This results in an incorrect client count which will lead to the channel resources not being freed when they should be. A simple test of repeated module load and unload of async_tx on a Dell Power Edge R7425 also shows this resulting in a kref underflow warning. [ 124.329662] async_tx: api initialized (async) [ 129.000627] async_tx: api initialized (async) [ 130.047839] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [ 130.052472] refcount_t: underflow; use-after-free. [ 130.057279] WARNING: CPU: 3 PID: 19364 at lib/refcount.c:28 refcount_warn_saturate+0xba/0x110 [ 130.065811] Modules linked in: async_tx(-) rfkill intel_rapl_msr intel_rapl_common amd64_edac edac_mce_amd ipmi_ssif kvm_amd dcdbas kvm mgag200 drm_shmem_helper acpi_ipmi irqbypass drm_kms_helper ipmi_si syscopyarea sysfillrect rapl pcspkr ipmi_devintf sysimgblt fb_sys_fops k10temp i2c_piix4 ipmi_msghandler acpi_power_meter acpi_cpufreq vfat fat drm fuse xfs libcrc32c sd_mod t10_pi sg ahci crct10dif_pclmul libahci crc32_pclmul crc32c_intel ghash_clmulni_intel igb megaraid_sas i40e libata i2c_algo_bit ccp sp5100_tco dca dm_mirror dm_region_hash dm_log dm_mod [last unloaded: async_tx] [ 130.117361] CPU: 3 PID: 19364 Comm: modprobe Kdump: loaded Not tainted 5.14.0-185.el9.x86_64 #1 [ 130.126091] Hardware name: Dell Inc. PowerEdge R7425/02MJ3T, BIOS 1.18.0 01/17/2022 [ 130.133806] RIP: 0010:refcount_warn_saturate+0xba/0x110 [ 130.139041] Code: 01 01 e8 6d bd 55 00 0f 0b e9 72 9d 8a 00 80 3d 26 18 9c 01 00 75 85 48 c7 c7 f8 a3 03 9d c6 05 16 18 9c 01 01 e8 4a bd 55 00 <0f> 0b e9 4f 9d 8a 00 80 3d 01 18 9c 01 00 0f 85 5e ff ff ff 48 c7 [ 130.157807] RSP: 0018:ffffbf98898afe68 EFLAGS: 00010286 [ 130.163036] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff9da06028e598 RCX: 0000000000000000 [ 130.170172] RDX: ffff9daf9de26480 RSI: ffff9daf9de198a0 RDI: ffff9daf9de198a0 [ 130.177316] RBP: ffff9da7cddf3970 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 00000000ffff7fff [ 130.184459] R10: ffffbf98898afd00 R11: ffffffff9d9e8c28 R12: ffff9da7cddf1970 [ 130.191596] R13: 0000000000000000 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 0000000000000000 [ 130.198739] FS: 00007f646435c740(0000) GS:ffff9daf9de00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 130.206832] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 130.212586] CR2: 00007f6463b214f0 CR3: 00000008ab98c000 CR4: 00000000003506e0 [ 130.219729] Call Trace: [ 130.222192] <TASK> [ 130.224305] dma_chan_put+0x10d/0x110 [ 130.227988] dmaengine_put+0x7a/0xa0 [ 130.231575] __do_sys_delete_module.constprop.0+0x178/0x280 [ 130.237157] ? syscall_trace_enter.constprop.0+0x145/0x1d0 [ 130.242652] do_syscall_64+0x5c/0x90 [ 130.246240] ? exc_page_fault+0x62/0x150 [ 130.250178] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd [ 130.255243] RIP: 0033:0x7f6463a3f5ab [ 130.258830] Code: 73 01 c3 48 8b 0d 75 a8 1b 00 f7 d8 64 89 01 48 83 c8 ff c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 90 f3 0f 1e fa b8 b0 00 00 00 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 8b 0d 45 a8 1b 00 f7 d8 64 89 01 48 [ 130.277591] RSP: 002b:00007fff22f972c8 EFLAGS: 00000206 ORIG_RAX: 00000000000000b0 [ 130.285164] RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 000055b6786edd40 RCX: 00007f6463a3f5ab [ 130.292303] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000800 RDI: 000055b6786edda8 [ 130.299443] RBP: 000055b6786edd40 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 [ 130.306584] R10: 00007f6463b9eac0 R11: 0000000000000206 R12: 000055b6786edda8 [ 130.313731] R13: 0000000000000000 R14: 000055b6786edda8 R15: 00007fff22f995f8 [ 130.320875] </TASK> [ 130.323081] ---[ end trace eff7156d56b5cf25 ]--- cat /sys/class/dma/dma0chan*/in_use would get the wrong result. 2 2 2 Test-by: Jie Hai <[email protected]>

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-416

Memory is used after it has been freed, so its contents — now potentially attacker-controlled — drive the program's behaviour. With careful heap grooming this becomes code execution. The fix requires disciplined ownership of memory and often a targeted rework of the object lifecycle.

General guidance for the use after free 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:>= 4.0, < 4.14.305>= 4.15, < 4.19.272>= 4.20, < 5.4.231>= 5.5, < 5.10.166>= 5.11, < 5.15.91>= 5.16, < 6.1.9= 6.2

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
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 4.14.305 / 4.19.272 / 5.4.231 or later
Fixed in 4.14.3054.19.2725.4.231
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Minimum: 4.14.305 (for 4.14.y), 4.19.272 (for 4.19.y), 5.4.231 (for 5.4.y), 5.10.166 (for 5.10.y); recommended: 5.15.x or later stable branch

  1. Identify the current running kernel version using `uname -r` or `cat /proc/version`
  2. Determine which version branch the system is running (e.g., 4.14.x, 4.19.x, 5.4.x, or 5.10.x)
  3. For systems running kernel 4.14.x: upgrade to kernel 4.14.305 or later
  4. For systems running kernel 4.19.x: upgrade to kernel 4.19.272 or later
  5. For systems running kernel 5.4.x: upgrade to kernel 5.4.231 or later
  6. For systems running kernel 5.5.x through 5.10.x: upgrade to kernel 5.10.166 or later
  7. Alternatively, upgrade to a newer stable kernel branch (such as 5.15.x, 6.1.x, or later) which contains the fix
  8. Apply the upgrade via the distribution's package manager (e.g., `apt-get update && apt-get upgrade`, `yum update`, or `dnf upgrade`)
Caveat Standard kernel upgrade risks apply - ensure compatibility with existing system software and review distribution release notes for known issues

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

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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

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Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-49753 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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