CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2022-50256NVD status: Analyzed

Linux: Use After Free

Published Updated By the CyberSecBulletin desk

CVE-2022-50256 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.8 out of 10. It can be exploited with local access to the system by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. The record lists versions de2b6ebe0cb7746b5b6b35d79e150d934392b958, fc1fd114dde3d2623ac37676df3d74ffeedb0da8, 09847723c12fc2753749cec3939a02ee92dac468 as the first without the flaw, so updating Linux to one of those releases or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.16% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.

Next patch cycle

High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.

What to do

  1. Update Linux to de2b6ebe0cb7746b5b6b35d79e150d934392b958 or fc1fd114dde3d2623ac37676df3d74ffeedb0da8 or 09847723c12fc2753749cec3939a02ee92dac468 or 5.16, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
  2. Update Linux Kernel to 5.19.17 or 6.0.3, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
LinuxLinuxe67f6037ae1be34b2b686bab72caa41d57714534 up to, but not including, de2b6ebe0cb7746b5b6b35d79e150d934392b958; e67f6037ae1be34b2b686bab72caa41d57714534 up to, but not including, fc1fd114dde3d2623ac37676df3d74ffeedb0da8; e67f6037ae1be34b2b686bab72caa41d57714534 up to, but not including, 09847723c12fc2753749cec3939a02ee92dac468; 1c5439a716122cd86530d261cd1bf7ba43b3cdd8; 7e88f6d40f5875212f9d9ee8ba19147159908d4a; 5.15.33 up to, but not including, 5.16; 5.16.19 up to, but not including, 5.17; 5.17de2b6ebe0cb7746b5b6b35d79e150d934392b958, fc1fd114dde3d2623ac37676df3d74ffeedb0da8, 09847723c12fc2753749cec3939a02ee92dac468, 5.16, 5.17
LinuxLinux Kernel4.10 up to, but not including, 5.19.17; 6.0 up to, but not including, 6.0.35.19.17, 6.0.3

Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
LocalThe attacker needs local access or must trick a user into running something.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Privileges required
LowA basic user account is enough.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality
HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
Integrity
HighData or code can be modified at will.
Availability
HighThe component can be taken down completely.

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by NVD.

Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/meson: remove drm bridges at aggregate driver unbind time drm bridges added by meson_encoder_hdmi_init and meson_encoder_cvbs_init were not manually removed at module unload time, which caused dangling references to freed memory to remain linked in the global bridge_list. When loading the driver modules back in, the same functions would again call drm_bridge_add, and when traversing the global bridge_list, would end up peeking into freed memory. Once again KASAN revealed the problem: [ +0.000095] ============================================================= [ +0.000008] BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in __list_add_valid+0x9c/0x120 [ +0.000018] Read of size 8 at addr ffff00003da291f0 by task modprobe/2483 [ +0.000018] CPU: 3 PID: 2483 Comm: modprobe Tainted: G C O 5.19.0-rc6-lrmbkasan+ #1 [ +0.000011] Hardware name: Hardkernel ODROID-N2Plus (DT) [ +0.000008] Call trace: [ +0.000006] dump_backtrace+0x1ec/0x280 [ +0.000012] show_stack+0x24/0x80 [ +0.000008] dump_stack_lvl+0x98/0xd4 [ +0.000011] print_address_description.constprop.0+0x80/0x520 [ +0.000011] print_report+0x128/0x260 [ +0.000008] kasan_report+0xb8/0xfc [ +0.000008] __asan_report_load8_noabort+0x3c/0x50 [ +0.000009] __list_add_valid+0x9c/0x120 [ +0.000009] drm_bridge_add+0x6c/0x104 [drm] [ +0.000165] dw_hdmi_probe+0x1900/0x2360 [dw_hdmi] [ +0.000022] meson_dw_hdmi_bind+0x520/0x814 [meson_dw_hdmi] [ +0.000014] component_bind+0x174/0x520 [ +0.000012] component_bind_all+0x1a8/0x38c [ +0.000010] meson_drv_bind_master+0x5e8/0xb74 [meson_drm] [ +0.000032] meson_drv_bind+0x20/0x2c [meson_drm] [ +0.000027] try_to_bring_up_aggregate_device+0x19c/0x390 [ +0.000010] component_master_add_with_match+0x1c8/0x284 [ +0.000009] meson_drv_probe+0x274/0x280 [meson_drm] [ +0.000026] platform_probe+0xd0/0x220 [ +0.000009] really_probe+0x3ac/0xa80 [ +0.000009] __driver_probe_device+0x1f8/0x400 [ +0.000009] driver_probe_device+0x68/0x1b0 [ +0.000009] __driver_attach+0x20c/0x480 [ +0.000008] bus_for_each_dev+0x114/0x1b0 [ +0.000009] driver_attach+0x48/0x64 [ +0.000008] bus_add_driver+0x390/0x564 [ +0.000009] driver_register+0x1a8/0x3e4 [ +0.000009] __platform_driver_register+0x6c/0x94 [ +0.000008] meson_drm_platform_driver_init+0x3c/0x1000 [meson_drm] [ +0.000027] do_one_initcall+0xc4/0x2b0 [ +0.000011] do_init_module+0x154/0x570 [ +0.000011] load_module+0x1a78/0x1ea4 [ +0.000008] __do_sys_init_module+0x184/0x1cc [ +0.000009] __arm64_sys_init_module+0x78/0xb0 [ +0.000009] invoke_syscall+0x74/0x260 [ +0.000009] el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0xcc/0x260 [ +0.000008] do_el0_svc+0x50/0x70 [ +0.000007] el0_svc+0x68/0x1a0 [ +0.000012] el0t_64_sync_handler+0x11c/0x150 [ +0.000008] el0t_64_sync+0x18c/0x190 [ +0.000016] Allocated by task 879: [ +0.000008] kasan_save_stack+0x2c/0x5c [ +0.000011] __kasan_kmalloc+0x90/0xd0 [ +0.000007] __kmalloc+0x278/0x4a0 [ +0.000011] mpi_resize+0x13c/0x1d0 [ +0.000011] mpi_powm+0xd24/0x1570 [ +0.000009] rsa_enc+0x1a4/0x30c [ +0.000009] pkcs1pad_verify+0x3f0/0x580 [ +0.000009] public_key_verify_signature+0x7a8/0xba4 [ +0.000010] public_key_verify_signature_2+0x40/0x60 [ +0.000008] verify_signature+0xb4/0x114 [ +0.000008] pkcs7_validate_trust_one.constprop.0+0x3b8/0x574 [ +0.000009] pkcs7_validate_trust+0xb8/0x15c [ +0.000008] verify_pkcs7_message_sig+0xec/0x1b0 [ +0.000012] verify_pkcs7_signature+0x78/0xac [ +0.000007] mod_verify_sig+0x110/0x190 [ +0.000009] module_sig_check+0x114/0x1e0 [ +0.000009] load_module+0xa0/0x1ea4 [ +0.000008] __do_sys_init_module+0x184/0x1cc [ +0.000008] __arm64_sys_init_module+0x78/0xb0 [ +0.000008] invoke_syscall+0x74/0x260 [ +0.000009] el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0x1a8/0x260 [ +0.000008] do_el0_svc+0x50/0x70 [ +0.000007] el0_svc+0x68/0x1a0 [ +0.000009] el0t_64_sync_handler+0x11c/0x150 [ +0.000009] el0t_64 ---truncated---

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Use After Free

The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory belongs to the code that operates on the new pointer.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • Choose a language that provides automatic memory management.
  • When freeing pointers, be sure to set them to NULL once they are freed. However, the utilization of multiple or complex data structures may lower the usefulness of this strategy.

More Use After Free vulnerabilities (CWE-416)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Recent Use After Free vulnerabilities

Spotted an error? Tell us.