Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2022-50248

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.4.229 / 5.10.163 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: wifi: iwlwifi: mvm: fix double free on tx path. We see kernel crashes and lockups and KASAN errors related to ax210 firmware crashes. One of the KASAN dumps pointed at the tx path, and it appears there is indeed a way to double-free an skb. If iwl_mvm_tx_skb_sta returns non-zero, then the 'skb' sent into the method will be freed. But, in case where we build TSO skb buffer, the skb may also be freed in error case. So, return 0 in that particular error case and do cleanup manually. BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in __list_del_entry_valid+0x12/0x90 iwlwifi 0000:06:00.0: 0x00000000 | tsf hi Read of size 8 at addr ffff88813cfa4ba0 by task btserver/9650 CPU: 4 PID: 9650 Comm: btserver Tainted: G W 5.19.8+ #5 iwlwifi 0000:06:00.0: 0x00000000 | time gp1 Hardware name: Default string Default string/SKYBAY, BIOS 5.12 02/19/2019 Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x55/0x6d print_report.cold.12+0xf2/0x684 iwlwifi 0000:06:00.0: 0x1D0915A8 | time gp2 ? __list_del_entry_valid+0x12/0x90 kasan_report+0x8b/0x180 iwlwifi 0000:06:00.0: 0x00000001 | uCode revision type ? __list_del_entry_valid+0x12/0x90 __list_del_entry_valid+0x12/0x90 iwlwifi 0000:06:00.0: 0x00000048 | uCode version major tcp_update_skb_after_send+0x5d/0x170 __tcp_transmit_skb+0xb61/0x15c0 iwlwifi 0000:06:00.0: 0xDAA05125 | uCode version minor ? __tcp_select_window+0x490/0x490 iwlwifi 0000:06:00.0: 0x00000420 | hw version ? trace_kmalloc_node+0x29/0xd0 ? __kmalloc_node_track_caller+0x12a/0x260 ? memset+0x1f/0x40 ? __build_skb_around+0x125/0x150 ? __alloc_skb+0x1d4/0x220 ? skb_zerocopy_clone+0x55/0x230 iwlwifi 0000:06:00.0: 0x00489002 | board version ? kmalloc_reserve+0x80/0x80 ? rcu_read_lock_bh_held+0x60/0xb0 tcp_write_xmit+0x3f1/0x24d0 iwlwifi 0000:06:00.0: 0x034E001C | hcmd ? __check_object_size+0x180/0x350 iwlwifi 0000:06:00.0: 0x24020000 | isr0 tcp_sendmsg_locked+0x8a9/0x1520 iwlwifi 0000:06:00.0: 0x01400000 | isr1 ? tcp_sendpage+0x50/0x50 iwlwifi 0000:06:00.0: 0x48F0000A | isr2 ? lock_release+0xb9/0x400 ? tcp_sendmsg+0x14/0x40 iwlwifi 0000:06:00.0: 0x00C3080C | isr3 ? lock_downgrade+0x390/0x390 ? do_raw_spin_lock+0x114/0x1d0 iwlwifi 0000:06:00.0: 0x00200000 | isr4 ? rwlock_bug.part.2+0x50/0x50 iwlwifi 0000:06:00.0: 0x034A001C | last cmd Id ? rwlock_bug.part.2+0x50/0x50 ? lockdep_hardirqs_on_prepare+0xe/0x200 iwlwifi 0000:06:00.0: 0x0000C2F0 | wait_event ? __local_bh_enable_ip+0x87/0xe0 ? inet_send_prepare+0x220/0x220 iwlwifi 0000:06:00.0: 0x000000C4 | l2p_control tcp_sendmsg+0x22/0x40 sock_sendmsg+0x5f/0x70 iwlwifi 0000:06:00.0: 0x00010034 | l2p_duration __sys_sendto+0x19d/0x250 iwlwifi 0000:06:00.0: 0x00000007 | l2p_mhvalid ? __ia32_sys_getpeername+0x40/0x40 iwlwifi 0000:06:00.0: 0x00000000 | l2p_addr_match ? rcu_read_lock_held_common+0x12/0x50 ? rcu_read_lock_sched_held+0x5a/0xd0 ? rcu_read_lock_bh_held+0xb0/0xb0 ? rcu_read_lock_sched_held+0x5a/0xd0 ? rcu_read_lock_sched_held+0x5a/0xd0 ? lock_release+0xb9/0x400 ? lock_downgrade+0x390/0x390 ? ktime_get+0x64/0x130 ? ktime_get+0x8d/0x130 ? rcu_read_lock_held_common+0x12/0x50 ? rcu_read_lock_sched_held+0x5a/0xd0 ? rcu_read_lock_held_common+0x12/0x50 ? rcu_read_lock_sched_held+0x5a/0xd0 ? rcu_read_lock_bh_held+0xb0/0xb0 ? rcu_read_lock_bh_held+0xb0/0xb0 __x64_sys_sendto+0x6f/0x80 do_syscall_64+0x34/0xb0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0 RIP: 0033:0x7f1d126e4531 Code: 00 00 00 00 0f 1f 44 00 00 f3 0f 1e fa 48 8d 05 35 80 0c 00 41 89 ca 8b 00 85 c0 75 1c 45 31 c9 45 31 c0 b8 2c 00 00 00 0f 05 <48> 3d 00 f0 ff ff 77 67 c3 66 0f 1f 44 00 00 55 48 83 ec 20 48 89 RSP: 002b:00007ffe21a679d8 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 000000000000002c RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 000000000000ffdc RCX: 00007f1d126e4531 RDX: 0000000000010000 RSI: 000000000374acf0 RDI: 0000000000000014 RBP: 00007ffe21a67ac0 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000246 R ---truncated---

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-415

The same block of memory is freed twice, corrupting the allocator's bookkeeping in ways an attacker can shape toward code execution. It usually stems from tangled ownership of a pointer. The fix is clear, single ownership of each allocation and clearing pointers once they are freed.

General guidance for the double 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:>= 5.1, < 5.4.229>= 5.5, < 5.10.163>= 5.11, < 5.15.86>= 5.16, < 6.0.16>= 6.1, < 6.1.2

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 5.4.229 / 5.10.163 / 5.15.86 or later
Fixed in 5.4.2295.10.1635.15.86
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

5.4.229, 5.10.163, 5.15.86, or 6.0.16 (depending on your version branch)

  1. Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Determine which version branch your kernel belongs to (5.4.x, 5.10.x, 5.15.x, or 5.16.x/6.0.x)
  3. Upgrade the Linux kernel to a version that includes the fix: 5.4.229 or later for 5.4.x kernels, 5.10.163 or later for 5.10.x kernels, 5.15.86 or later for 5.15.x kernels, or 6.0.16 or later for 6.0.x kernels
  4. On Debian/Ubuntu-based systems: `sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade` followed by a system reboot
  5. On RHEL/CentOS/Fedora-based systems: `sudo dnf update kernel` followed by a system reboot
  6. After reboot, verify the kernel version with `uname -r` to confirm the fix is applied
  7. Ensure the iwlwifi driver module is loaded: `modprobe iwlwifi`
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require matching kernel modules/firmware; ensure firmware-iwlwifi package is also updated for full remediation of Intel wireless devices

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

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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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