# CVE-2022-25258: Null dereference in n/a

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel USB gadget subsystem allows attackers to cause memory corruption, potentially leading to code execution or denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.6 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 16 Feb 2022
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** A-222023189, ASB-A-222023189, AZL-8655, DEBIAN-CVE-2022-25258, GHSA-5c8p-jxw7-78rv, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-25258

## What is CVE-2022-25258?

CVE-2022-25258 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 16 Feb 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An issue was discovered in drivers/usb/gadget/composite.c in the Linux kernel before 5.16.10. The USB Gadget subsystem lacks certain validation of interface OS descriptor requests (ones with a large array index and ones associated with NULL function pointer retrieval). Memory corruption might occur.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-25258?

It affects 9 products.


Products: Debian Debian Linux, Fedoraproject Fedora, Linux kernel, Netapp Active Iq Unified Manager, Netapp H300s Firmware, Netapp H410c Firmware, Netapp H410s Firmware, Netapp H500s Firmware, Netapp H700s Firmware.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-25258?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-25258 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-25258 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- CVE-2022-25258 - Demo exploit targeting usb gadget's os descriptor handler (github_poc): https://github.com/szymonh/d-os-descriptor

## 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-2022-25258 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-25258 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 16 Feb 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-2022-25258 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-2022-25258/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-25258/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-25258
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-25258
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-25258

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-25258/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.