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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2022-49977

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-06-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.9.327 / 4.14.292 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: ftrace: Fix NULL pointer dereference in is_ftrace_trampoline when ftrace is dead ftrace_startup does not remove ops from ftrace_ops_list when ftrace_startup_enable fails: register_ftrace_function ftrace_startup __register_ftrace_function ... add_ftrace_ops(&ftrace_ops_list, ops) ... ... ftrace_startup_enable // if ftrace failed to modify, ftrace_disabled is set to 1 ... return 0 // ops is in the ftrace_ops_list. When ftrace_disabled = 1, unregister_ftrace_function simply returns without doing anything: unregister_ftrace_function ftrace_shutdown if (unlikely(ftrace_disabled)) return -ENODEV; // return here, __unregister_ftrace_function is not executed, // as a result, ops is still in the ftrace_ops_list __unregister_ftrace_function ... If ops is dynamically allocated, it will be free later, in this case, is_ftrace_trampoline accesses NULL pointer: is_ftrace_trampoline ftrace_ops_trampoline do_for_each_ftrace_op(op, ftrace_ops_list) // OOPS! op may be NULL! Syzkaller reports as follows: [ 1203.506103] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 000000000000010b [ 1203.508039] #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode [ 1203.508798] #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page [ 1203.509558] PGD 800000011660b067 P4D 800000011660b067 PUD 130fb8067 PMD 0 [ 1203.510560] Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP KASAN PTI [ 1203.511189] CPU: 6 PID: 29532 Comm: syz-executor.2 Tainted: G B W 5.10.0 #8 [ 1203.512324] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.14.0-0-g155821a1990b-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 [ 1203.513895] RIP: 0010:is_ftrace_trampoline+0x26/0xb0 [ 1203.514644] Code: ff eb d3 90 41 55 41 54 49 89 fc 55 53 e8 f2 00 fd ff 48 8b 1d 3b 35 5d 03 e8 e6 00 fd ff 48 8d bb 90 00 00 00 e8 2a 81 26 00 <48> 8b ab 90 00 00 00 48 85 ed 74 1d e8 c9 00 fd ff 48 8d bb 98 00 [ 1203.518838] RSP: 0018:ffffc900012cf960 EFLAGS: 00010246 [ 1203.520092] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 000000000000007b RCX: ffffffff8a331866 [ 1203.521469] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000008 RDI: 000000000000010b [ 1203.522583] RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: ffffffff8df18b07 [ 1203.523550] R10: fffffbfff1be3160 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: 0000000000478399 [ 1203.524596] R13: 0000000000000000 R14: ffff888145088000 R15: 0000000000000008 [ 1203.525634] FS: 00007f429f5f4700(0000) GS:ffff8881daf00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 1203.526801] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 1203.527626] CR2: 000000000000010b CR3: 0000000170e1e001 CR4: 00000000003706e0 [ 1203.528611] DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 [ 1203.529605] DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Therefore, when ftrace_startup_enable fails, we need to rollback registration process and remove ops from ftrace_ops_list.

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:< 4.9.327>= 4.10, < 4.14.292>= 4.15, < 4.19.257>= 4.20, < 5.4.212>= 5.5, < 5.10.141>= 5.11, < 5.15.65>= 5.16, < 5.19.7= 6.0

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 4.9.327 / 4.14.292 / 4.19.257 or later
Fixed in 4.9.3274.14.2924.19.257
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux kernel 4.9.327, 4.14.292, 4.19.257, or 5.4.212 (or later stable release) depending on your branch

  1. 1. Identify the currently running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. 2. Check which version range your current kernel falls into (< 4.9.327, >= 4.10 but < 4.14.292, >= 4.15 but < 4.19.257, or >= 4.20 but < 5.4.212)
  3. 3. Upgrade the Linux kernel to a version that includes the fix: for 4.9.x upgrade to >= 4.9.327, for 4.14.x upgrade to >= 4.14.292, for 4.19.x upgrade to >= 4.19.257, or for 5.4.x upgrade to >= 5.4.212
  4. 4. If using a distribution-provided kernel, apply the distribution's security update that incorporates commit 4c34a2a6c9927c239dd2e295a03d49b37b618d2c
  5. 5. Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
  6. 6. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and confirming ftrace functionality works correctly
Caveat Major kernel upgrades may require rebuild of out-of-tree kernel modules or cause compatibility issues with user-space tools; always test in a staging environment first

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

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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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