# CVE-2022-48746: net/mlx5e: Fix handling of wrong devices during bond netevent

> A missing device check in the Linux kernel mlx5e driver causes a null pointer dereference and system crash during bond netevents.

- **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:** 20 Jun 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-48746, GHSA-j52p-q7q4-9vwc, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-48746

## What is CVE-2022-48746?

CVE-2022-48746 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 20 Jun 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net/mlx5e: Fix handling of wrong devices during bond netevent

Current implementation of bond netevent handler only check if
the handled netdev is VF representor and it missing a check if
the VF representor is on the same phys device of the bond handling
the netevent.

Fix by adding the missing check and optimizing the check if
the netdev is VF representor so it will not access uninitialized
private data and crashes.

BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 000000000000036c
PGD 0 P4D 0
Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI
Workqueue: eth3bond0 bond_mii_monitor [bonding]
RIP: 0010:mlx5e_is_uplink_rep+0xc/0x50 [mlx5_core]
RSP: 0018:ffff88812d69fd60 EFLAGS: 00010282
RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff8881cf800000 RCX: 0000000000000000
RDX: ffff88812d69fe10 RSI: 000000000000001b RDI: ffff8881cf800880
RBP: ffff8881cf800000 R08: 00000445cabccf2b R09: 0000000000000008
R10: 0000000000000004 R11: 0000000000000008 R12: ffff88812d69fe10
R13: 00000000fffffffe R14: ffff88820c0f9000 R15: 0000000000000000
FS:  0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff88846fb00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
CR2: 000000000000036c CR3: 0000000103d80006 CR4: 0000000000370ea0
DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000
DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400
Call Trace:
 mlx5e_eswitch_uplink_rep+0x31/0x40 [mlx5_core]
 mlx5e_rep_is_lag_netdev+0x94/0xc0 [mlx5_core]
 mlx5e_rep_esw_bond_netevent+0xeb/0x3d0 [mlx5_core]
 raw_notifier_call_chain+0x41/0x60
 call_netdevice_notifiers_info+0x34/0x80
 netdev_lower_state_changed+0x4e/0xa0
 bond_mii_monitor+0x56b/0x640 [bonding]
 process_one_work+0x1b9/0x390
 worker_thread+0x4d/0x3d0
 ? rescuer_thread+0x350/0x350
 kthread+0x124/0x150
 ? set_kthread_struct+0x40/0x40
 ret_from_fork+0x1f/0x30

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-48746?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-48746?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-48746 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-48746 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-48746 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-48746 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 20 Jun 2024. 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-2022-48746 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. 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-2022-48746/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48746/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-48746
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-48746
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-48746

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48746/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.