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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2022-49788

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.9.334 / 4.14.300 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: misc/vmw_vmci: fix an infoleak in vmci_host_do_receive_datagram() `struct vmci_event_qp` allocated by qp_notify_peer() contains padding, which may carry uninitialized data to the userspace, as observed by KMSAN: BUG: KMSAN: kernel-infoleak in instrument_copy_to_user ./include/linux/instrumented.h:121 instrument_copy_to_user ./include/linux/instrumented.h:121 _copy_to_user+0x5f/0xb0 lib/usercopy.c:33 copy_to_user ./include/linux/uaccess.h:169 vmci_host_do_receive_datagram drivers/misc/vmw_vmci/vmci_host.c:431 vmci_host_unlocked_ioctl+0x33d/0x43d0 drivers/misc/vmw_vmci/vmci_host.c:925 vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 ... Uninit was stored to memory at: kmemdup+0x74/0xb0 mm/util.c:131 dg_dispatch_as_host drivers/misc/vmw_vmci/vmci_datagram.c:271 vmci_datagram_dispatch+0x4f8/0xfc0 drivers/misc/vmw_vmci/vmci_datagram.c:339 qp_notify_peer+0x19a/0x290 drivers/misc/vmw_vmci/vmci_queue_pair.c:1479 qp_broker_attach drivers/misc/vmw_vmci/vmci_queue_pair.c:1662 qp_broker_alloc+0x2977/0x2f30 drivers/misc/vmw_vmci/vmci_queue_pair.c:1750 vmci_qp_broker_alloc+0x96/0xd0 drivers/misc/vmw_vmci/vmci_queue_pair.c:1940 vmci_host_do_alloc_queuepair drivers/misc/vmw_vmci/vmci_host.c:488 vmci_host_unlocked_ioctl+0x24fd/0x43d0 drivers/misc/vmw_vmci/vmci_host.c:927 ... Local variable ev created at: qp_notify_peer+0x54/0x290 drivers/misc/vmw_vmci/vmci_queue_pair.c:1456 qp_broker_attach drivers/misc/vmw_vmci/vmci_queue_pair.c:1662 qp_broker_alloc+0x2977/0x2f30 drivers/misc/vmw_vmci/vmci_queue_pair.c:1750 Bytes 28-31 of 48 are uninitialized Memory access of size 48 starts at ffff888035155e00 Data copied to user address 0000000020000100 Use memset() to prevent the infoleaks. Also speculatively fix qp_notify_peer_local(), which may suffer from the same problem.

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:>= 3.9, < 4.9.334>= 4.10, < 4.14.300>= 4.15, < 4.19.267>= 4.20, < 5.4.225>= 5.5, < 5.10.156>= 5.11, < 5.15.80>= 5.16, < 6.0.10= 6.1

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 4.9.334 / 4.14.300 / 4.19.267 or later
Fixed in 4.9.3344.14.3004.19.267
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux kernel 4.9.334+ (for 4.9 branch), 4.14.300+ (for 4.14 branch), 4.19.267+ (for 4.19 branch), or 5.4.225+ (for 5.4 branch) - choose the next available stable release in your current branch

  1. 1. Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using `uname -r` or `cat /proc/version`
  2. 2. Determine which version branch your kernel belongs to (e.g., 4.9.x, 4.14.x, 4.19.x, or 5.4.x)
  3. 3. For kernels in the 4.9 branch: upgrade to version 4.9.334 or later
  4. 4. For kernels in the 4.14 branch: upgrade to version 4.14.300 or later
  5. 5. For kernels in the 4.19 branch: upgrade to version 4.19.267 or later
  6. 6. For kernels in the 5.4 branch: upgrade to version 5.4.225 or later
  7. 7. For kernels newer than 5.4: this vulnerability is already fixed in those versions
  8. 8. After upgrade, verify the fix is applied by checking that the kernel version includes the commit 5a275528025ae4bc7e2232866856dfebf84b2fad (can be verified via `cat /proc/version` and comparing with vendor security advisories)
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could introduce compatibility issues with out-of-tree modules; however this specific security fix (memset initialization) is low-risk for breaking changes

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-2022-49788 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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