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CVE-2022-50378NVD status: Modified

Linux: Use After Free

CVE-2022-50378 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 d76ff04a72f90767455059c8239b06042cd0ed23, 9190d287f7a6b02b50b510045b0edf448ed68e88, 9d33348513c36337f91f1991da23f41514d4de39 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 d76ff04a72f90767455059c8239b06042cd0ed23 or 9190d287f7a6b02b50b510045b0edf448ed68e88 or 9d33348513c36337f91f1991da23f41514d4de39 or 31c519981eb141c7ec39bfd5be25d35f02edb868, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
  2. Update Linux Kernel to 5.15.75 or 5.19.17 or 6.0.3, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
LinuxLinuxe78ad18ba3658fbc8c63629e034b68d8e51acbf1 up to, but not including, d76ff04a72f90767455059c8239b06042cd0ed23; e78ad18ba3658fbc8c63629e034b68d8e51acbf1 up to, but not including, 9190d287f7a6b02b50b510045b0edf448ed68e88; e78ad18ba3658fbc8c63629e034b68d8e51acbf1 up to, but not including, 9d33348513c36337f91f1991da23f41514d4de39; e78ad18ba3658fbc8c63629e034b68d8e51acbf1 up to, but not including, 31c519981eb141c7ec39bfd5be25d35f02edb868; 2777970add401e92d531a16dda30d84ec0831226; 5.10.4 up to, but not including, 5.11; 5.11d76ff04a72f90767455059c8239b06042cd0ed23, 9190d287f7a6b02b50b510045b0edf448ed68e88, 9d33348513c36337f91f1991da23f41514d4de39, 31c519981eb141c7ec39bfd5be25d35f02edb868, 5.11
LinuxLinux Kernel4.10 up to, but not including, 5.15.75; 5.16 up to, but not including, 5.19.17; 6.0 up to, but not including, 6.0.35.15.75, 5.19.17, 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.

Scoring systemScoreSeverityScored by
CVSS 3.17.8HighNVD
CVSS 3.17.8HighCISA (ADP)

Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/meson: reorder driver deinit sequence to fix use-after-free bug Unloading the driver triggers the following KASAN warning: [ +0.006275] ============================================================= [ +0.000029] BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in __list_del_entry_valid+0xe0/0x1a0 [ +0.000026] Read of size 8 at addr ffff000020c395e0 by task rmmod/2695 [ +0.000019] CPU: 5 PID: 2695 Comm: rmmod Tainted: G C O 5.19.0-rc6-lrmbkasan+ #1 [ +0.000013] Hardware name: Hardkernel ODROID-N2Plus (DT) [ +0.000008] Call trace: [ +0.000007] dump_backtrace+0x1ec/0x280 [ +0.000013] 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 [ +0.000007] kasan_report+0xb8/0xfc [ +0.000008] __asan_report_load8_noabort+0x3c/0x50 [ +0.000010] __list_del_entry_valid+0xe0/0x1a0 [ +0.000009] drm_atomic_private_obj_fini+0x30/0x200 [drm] [ +0.000172] drm_bridge_detach+0x94/0x260 [drm] [ +0.000145] drm_encoder_cleanup+0xa4/0x290 [drm] [ +0.000144] drm_mode_config_cleanup+0x118/0x740 [drm] [ +0.000143] drm_mode_config_init_release+0x1c/0x2c [drm] [ +0.000144] drm_managed_release+0x170/0x414 [drm] [ +0.000142] drm_dev_put.part.0+0xc0/0x124 [drm] [ +0.000143] drm_dev_put+0x20/0x30 [drm] [ +0.000142] meson_drv_unbind+0x1d8/0x2ac [meson_drm] [ +0.000028] take_down_aggregate_device+0xb0/0x160 [ +0.000016] component_del+0x18c/0x360 [ +0.000009] meson_dw_hdmi_remove+0x28/0x40 [meson_dw_hdmi] [ +0.000015] platform_remove+0x64/0xb0 [ +0.000009] device_remove+0xb8/0x154 [ +0.000009] device_release_driver_internal+0x398/0x5b0 [ +0.000009] driver_detach+0xac/0x1b0 [ +0.000009] bus_remove_driver+0x158/0x29c [ +0.000009] driver_unregister+0x70/0xb0 [ +0.000008] platform_driver_unregister+0x20/0x2c [ +0.000008] meson_dw_hdmi_platform_driver_exit+0x1c/0x30 [meson_dw_hdmi] [ +0.000012] __do_sys_delete_module+0x288/0x400 [ +0.000011] __arm64_sys_delete_module+0x5c/0x80 [ +0.000009] invoke_syscall+0x74/0x260 [ +0.000009] el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0xcc/0x260 [ +0.000009] 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 [ +0.000018] Allocated by task 0: [ +0.000007] (stack is not available) [ +0.000011] Freed by task 2695: [ +0.000008] kasan_save_stack+0x2c/0x5c [ +0.000011] kasan_set_track+0x2c/0x40 [ +0.000008] kasan_set_free_info+0x28/0x50 [ +0.000009] ____kasan_slab_free+0x128/0x1d4 [ +0.000008] __kasan_slab_free+0x18/0x24 [ +0.000007] slab_free_freelist_hook+0x108/0x230 [ +0.000011] kfree+0x110/0x35c [ +0.000008] release_nodes+0xf0/0x16c [ +0.000009] devres_release_group+0x180/0x270 [ +0.000008] component_unbind+0x128/0x1e0 [ +0.000010] component_unbind_all+0x1b8/0x264 [ +0.000009] meson_drv_unbind+0x1a0/0x2ac [meson_drm] [ +0.000025] take_down_aggregate_device+0xb0/0x160 [ +0.000009] component_del+0x18c/0x360 [ +0.000009] meson_dw_hdmi_remove+0x28/0x40 [meson_dw_hdmi] [ +0.000012] platform_remove+0x64/0xb0 [ +0.000008] device_remove+0xb8/0x154 [ +0.000009] device_release_driver_internal+0x398/0x5b0 [ +0.000009] driver_detach+0xac/0x1b0 [ +0.000009] bus_remove_driver+0x158/0x29c [ +0.000008] driver_unregister+0x70/0xb0 [ +0.000008] platform_driver_unregister+0x20/0x2c [ +0.000008] meson_dw_hdmi_platform_driver_exit+0x1c/0x30 [meson_dw_hdmi] [ +0.000011] __do_sys_delete_module+0x288/0x400 [ +0.000010] __arm64_sys_delete_module+0x5c/0x80 [ +0.000008] invoke_syscall+0x74/0x260 [ +0.000008] el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0xcc/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_sync+0x18c/0x190 [ +0.000014] The buggy address belongs to the object at ffff000020c39000 ---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. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Recent Use After Free vulnerabilities

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