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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2022-50261

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.9.337 / 4.14.303 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: drm/sti: Fix return type of sti_{dvo,hda,hdmi}_connector_mode_valid() With clang's kernel control flow integrity (kCFI, CONFIG_CFI_CLANG), indirect call targets are validated against the expected function pointer prototype to make sure the call target is valid to help mitigate ROP attacks. If they are not identical, there is a failure at run time, which manifests as either a kernel panic or thread getting killed. A proposed warning in clang aims to catch these at compile time, which reveals: drivers/gpu/drm/sti/sti_hda.c:637:16: error: incompatible function pointer types initializing 'enum drm_mode_status (*)(struct drm_connector *, struct drm_display_mode *)' with an expression of type 'int (struct drm_connector *, struct drm_display_mode *)' [-Werror,-Wincompatible-function-pointer-types-strict] .mode_valid = sti_hda_connector_mode_valid, ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ drivers/gpu/drm/sti/sti_dvo.c:376:16: error: incompatible function pointer types initializing 'enum drm_mode_status (*)(struct drm_connector *, struct drm_display_mode *)' with an expression of type 'int (struct drm_connector *, struct drm_display_mode *)' [-Werror,-Wincompatible-function-pointer-types-strict] .mode_valid = sti_dvo_connector_mode_valid, ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ drivers/gpu/drm/sti/sti_hdmi.c:1035:16: error: incompatible function pointer types initializing 'enum drm_mode_status (*)(struct drm_connector *, struct drm_display_mode *)' with an expression of type 'int (struct drm_connector *, struct drm_display_mode *)' [-Werror,-Wincompatible-function-pointer-types-strict] .mode_valid = sti_hdmi_connector_mode_valid, ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ->mode_valid() in 'struct drm_connector_helper_funcs' expects a return type of 'enum drm_mode_status', not 'int'. Adjust the return type of sti_{dvo,hda,hdmi}_connector_mode_valid() to match the prototype's to resolve the warning and CFI failure.

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

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

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:< 4.9.337>= 4.10, < 4.14.303>= 4.15, < 4.19.270>= 4.20, < 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
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 4.9.337 / 4.14.303 / 4.19.270 or later
Fixed in 4.9.3374.14.3034.19.270
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Kernel 4.9.337, 4.14.303, 4.19.270, or 5.4.229 and later stable releases

  1. Apply kernel patch commit 04371a75a58422a301a9ff9ae3babd310ac3bb3f which changes return type of sti_dvo_connector_mode_valid() from 'int' to 'enum drm_mode_status' in drivers/gpu/drm/sti/sti_dvo.c
  2. Apply the same patch to change return type of sti_hda_connector_mode_valid() from 'int' to 'enum drm_mode_status' in drivers/gpu/drm/sti/sti_hda.c
  3. Apply the same patch to change return type of sti_hdmi_connector_mode_valid() from 'int' to 'enum drm_mode_status' in drivers/gpu/drm/sti/sti_hdmi.c
  4. Rebuild the Linux kernel with the patched source code
  5. Deploy the updated kernel

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

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