Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2022-50334
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 · uneditedIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: hugetlbfs: fix null-ptr-deref in hugetlbfs_parse_param() Syzkaller reports a null-ptr-deref bug as follows: ====================================================== KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000000-0x0000000000000007] RIP: 0010:hugetlbfs_parse_param+0x1dd/0x8e0 fs/hugetlbfs/inode.c:1380 [...] Call Trace: <TASK> vfs_parse_fs_param fs/fs_context.c:148 [inline] vfs_parse_fs_param+0x1f9/0x3c0 fs/fs_context.c:129 vfs_parse_fs_string+0xdb/0x170 fs/fs_context.c:191 generic_parse_monolithic+0x16f/0x1f0 fs/fs_context.c:231 do_new_mount fs/namespace.c:3036 [inline] path_mount+0x12de/0x1e20 fs/namespace.c:3370 do_mount fs/namespace.c:3383 [inline] __do_sys_mount fs/namespace.c:3591 [inline] __se_sys_mount fs/namespace.c:3568 [inline] __x64_sys_mount+0x27f/0x300 fs/namespace.c:3568 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x35/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd [...] </TASK> ====================================================== According to commit "vfs: parse: deal with zero length string value", kernel will set the param->string to null pointer in vfs_parse_fs_string() if fs string has zero length. Yet the problem is that, hugetlbfs_parse_param() will dereference the param->string, without checking whether it is a null pointer. To be more specific, if hugetlbfs_parse_param() parses an illegal mount parameter, such as "size=,", kernel will constructs struct fs_parameter with null pointer in vfs_parse_fs_string(), then passes this struct fs_parameter to hugetlbfs_parse_param(), which triggers the above null-ptr-deref bug. This patch solves it by adding sanity check on param->string in hugetlbfs_parse_param().
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 analysisThe 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
< 5.4.229>= 5.5, < 5.10.163>= 5.11, < 5.15.86>= 5.16, < 6.0.16>= 6.1, < 6.1.2CVSS 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 · scoped5.4.2295.10.1635.15.86
Upgrade to kernel 5.4.229, 5.10.163, 5.15.86, or 6.0.16 (or later stable releases) based on your current branch
- Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using `uname -r`
- Determine which version range your current kernel falls into (< 5.4.229, >= 5.5 and < 5.10.163, >= 5.11 and < 5.15.86, or >= 5.16 and < 6.0.16)
- Upgrade the Linux kernel to a fixed version: 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 5.11-5.15.x kernels, or 6.0.16 or later for 5.16-6.0.x kernels
- Reboot the system to apply the new kernel
- Verify the kernel version after reboot using `uname -r` to confirm the fix is applied
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-50334 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-50334 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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