# CVE-2022-0171: Denial of service in kernel

> A local user can crash the host kernel by creating a confidential guest VM on AMD SEV systems, requiring kernel patches.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 26 Aug 2022
- **Updated:** 14 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-10759, DEBIAN-CVE-2022-0171, GHSA-963w-7frp-mf37, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-0171

## What is CVE-2022-0171?

CVE-2022-0171 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 26 Aug 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel. The existing KVM SEV API has a vulnerability that allows a non-root (host) user-level application to crash the host kernel by creating a confidential guest VM instance in AMD CPU that supports Secure Encrypted Virtualization (SEV).

Weakness: CWE-212 (Improper Removal of Sensitive Information Before Storage or Transfer), CWE-459 (Incomplete Cleanup)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-0171?

It affects 3 products.


Products: Debian Debian Linux, Linux kernel, Redhat Enterprise Linux.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-0171?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-0171 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-0171 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux

- [CVE-2015-3306](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3306/): ProFTPD Improper Access Control (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-49113](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-49113/): RoundCube Webmail Deserialization of Untrusted Data (critical 9.9, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-24061](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24061/): GNU InetUtils Argument Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-39682](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39682/): Linux Kernel Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-9680](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-9680/): Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-0171 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-0171 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 26 Aug 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-0171 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Debian Debian Linux. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0171/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0171/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-0171
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-0171
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-0171

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0171/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.