Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2022-49892

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.2 / 4.5 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: ftrace: Fix use-after-free for dynamic ftrace_ops KASAN reported a use-after-free with ftrace ops [1]. It was found from vmcore that perf had registered two ops with the same content successively, both dynamic. After unregistering the second ops, a use-after-free occurred. In ftrace_shutdown(), when the second ops is unregistered, the FTRACE_UPDATE_CALLS command is not set because there is another enabled ops with the same content. Also, both ops are dynamic and the ftrace callback function is ftrace_ops_list_func, so the FTRACE_UPDATE_TRACE_FUNC command will not be set. Eventually the value of 'command' will be 0 and ftrace_shutdown() will skip the rcu synchronization. However, ftrace may be activated. When the ops is released, another CPU may be accessing the ops. Add the missing synchronization to fix this problem. [1] BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in __ftrace_ops_list_func kernel/trace/ftrace.c:7020 [inline] BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in ftrace_ops_list_func+0x2b0/0x31c kernel/trace/ftrace.c:7049 Read of size 8 at addr ffff56551965bbc8 by task syz-executor.2/14468 CPU: 1 PID: 14468 Comm: syz-executor.2 Not tainted 5.10.0 #7 Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT) Call trace: dump_backtrace+0x0/0x40c arch/arm64/kernel/stacktrace.c:132 show_stack+0x30/0x40 arch/arm64/kernel/stacktrace.c:196 __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:77 [inline] dump_stack+0x1b4/0x248 lib/dump_stack.c:118 print_address_description.constprop.0+0x28/0x48c mm/kasan/report.c:387 __kasan_report mm/kasan/report.c:547 [inline] kasan_report+0x118/0x210 mm/kasan/report.c:564 check_memory_region_inline mm/kasan/generic.c:187 [inline] __asan_load8+0x98/0xc0 mm/kasan/generic.c:253 __ftrace_ops_list_func kernel/trace/ftrace.c:7020 [inline] ftrace_ops_list_func+0x2b0/0x31c kernel/trace/ftrace.c:7049 ftrace_graph_call+0x0/0x4 __might_sleep+0x8/0x100 include/linux/perf_event.h:1170 __might_fault mm/memory.c:5183 [inline] __might_fault+0x58/0x70 mm/memory.c:5171 do_strncpy_from_user lib/strncpy_from_user.c:41 [inline] strncpy_from_user+0x1f4/0x4b0 lib/strncpy_from_user.c:139 getname_flags+0xb0/0x31c fs/namei.c:149 getname+0x2c/0x40 fs/namei.c:209 [...] Allocated by task 14445: kasan_save_stack+0x24/0x50 mm/kasan/common.c:48 kasan_set_track mm/kasan/common.c:56 [inline] __kasan_kmalloc mm/kasan/common.c:479 [inline] __kasan_kmalloc.constprop.0+0x110/0x13c mm/kasan/common.c:449 kasan_kmalloc+0xc/0x14 mm/kasan/common.c:493 kmem_cache_alloc_trace+0x440/0x924 mm/slub.c:2950 kmalloc include/linux/slab.h:563 [inline] kzalloc include/linux/slab.h:675 [inline] perf_event_alloc.part.0+0xb4/0x1350 kernel/events/core.c:11230 perf_event_alloc kernel/events/core.c:11733 [inline] __do_sys_perf_event_open kernel/events/core.c:11831 [inline] __se_sys_perf_event_open+0x550/0x15f4 kernel/events/core.c:11723 __arm64_sys_perf_event_open+0x6c/0x80 kernel/events/core.c:11723 [...] Freed by task 14445: kasan_save_stack+0x24/0x50 mm/kasan/common.c:48 kasan_set_track+0x24/0x34 mm/kasan/common.c:56 kasan_set_free_info+0x20/0x40 mm/kasan/generic.c:358 __kasan_slab_free.part.0+0x11c/0x1b0 mm/kasan/common.c:437 __kasan_slab_free mm/kasan/common.c:445 [inline] kasan_slab_free+0x2c/0x40 mm/kasan/common.c:446 slab_free_hook mm/slub.c:1569 [inline] slab_free_freelist_hook mm/slub.c:1608 [inline] slab_free mm/slub.c:3179 [inline] kfree+0x12c/0xc10 mm/slub.c:4176 perf_event_alloc.part.0+0xa0c/0x1350 kernel/events/core.c:11434 perf_event_alloc kernel/events/core.c:11733 [inline] __do_sys_perf_event_open kernel/events/core.c:11831 [inline] __se_sys_perf_event_open+0x550/0x15f4 kernel/events/core.c:11723 [...]

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:>= 4.1.45, < 4.2>= 4.4.89, < 4.5>= 4.9.52, < 4.10>= 4.13.4, < 5.10.154>= 5.11, < 5.15.78>= 5.16, < 6.0.8= 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
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 4.2 / 4.5 / 4.10 or later
Fixed in 4.24.54.10
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel >= 5.10.154, or to a supported LTS release such as 5.4.x or 4.19.x that includes the backported fix

  1. Identify the currently running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Check if the kernel version falls within any of the affected ranges: >= 4.1.45 and < 4.2; >= 4.4.89 and < 4.5; >= 4.9.52 and < 4.10; >= 4.13.4 and < 5.10.154
  3. If affected, upgrade the kernel to a version that includes the fix. The fix commit 0e792b89e6800cd9cb4757a76a96f7ef3e8b6294 is included in kernel version 5.10.154 and later
  4. For older affected branches (4.1.x, 4.4.x, 4.9.x, 4.13.x), upgrade to a maintained LTS kernel such as 5.4.y or 4.19.y which include backported fixes
  5. Reboot the system with the upgraded kernel
  6. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and confirming the ftrace subsystem operates without use-after-free errors
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebuilding out-of-tree kernel modules. Ensure driver and module compatibility with the target kernel version before upgrading.

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

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-49892 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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