# CVE-2022-48759: rpmsg: char: Fix race between the release of rpmsg_ctrldev and cdev

> A race condition in the Linux kernel rpmsg driver can lead to a use-after-free, causing a system crash or denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-48759, GHSA-rfp5-p8gj-qx34, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-48759

## What is CVE-2022-48759?

CVE-2022-48759 is a high-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:

rpmsg: char: Fix race between the release of rpmsg_ctrldev and cdev

struct rpmsg_ctrldev contains a struct cdev. The current code frees
the rpmsg_ctrldev struct in rpmsg_ctrldev_release_device(), but the
cdev is a managed object, therefore its release is not predictable
and the rpmsg_ctrldev could be freed before the cdev is entirely
released, as in the backtrace below.

[   93.625603] ODEBUG: free active (active state 0) object type: timer_list hint: delayed_work_timer_fn+0x0/0x7c
[   93.636115] WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 12 at lib/debugobjects.c:488 debug_print_object+0x13c/0x1b0
[   93.644799] Modules linked in: veth xt_cgroup xt_MASQUERADE rfcomm algif_hash algif_skcipher af_alg uinput ip6table_nat fuse uvcvideo videobuf2_vmalloc venus_enc venus_dec videobuf2_dma_contig hci_uart btandroid btqca snd_soc_rt5682_i2c bluetooth qcom_spmi_temp_alarm snd_soc_rt5682v
[   93.715175] CPU: 0 PID: 12 Comm: kworker/0:1 Tainted: G    B             5.4.163-lockdep #26
[   93.723855] Hardware name: Google Lazor (rev3 - 8) with LTE (DT)
[   93.730055] Workqueue: events kobject_delayed_cleanup
[   93.735271] pstate: 60c00009 (nZCv daif +PAN +UAO)
[   93.740216] pc : debug_print_object+0x13c/0x1b0
[   93.744890] lr : debug_print_object+0x13c/0x1b0
[   93.749555] sp : ffffffacf5bc7940
[   93.752978] x29: ffffffacf5bc7940 x28: dfffffd000000000
[   93.758448] x27: ffffffacdb11a800 x26: dfffffd000000000
[   93.763916] x25: ffffffd0734f856c x24: dfffffd000000000
[   93.769389] x23: 0000000000000000 x22: ffffffd0733c35b0
[   93.774860] x21: ffffffd0751994a0 x20: ffffffd075ec27c0
[   93.780338] x19: ffffffd075199100 x18: 00000000000276e0
[   93.785814] x17: 0000000000000000 x16: dfffffd000000000
[   93.791291] x15: ffffffffffffffff x14: 6e6968207473696c
[   93.796768] x13: 0000000000000000 x12: ffffffd075e2b000
[   93.802244] x11: 0000000000000001 x10: 0000000000000000
[   93.807723] x9 : d13400dff1921900 x8 : d13400dff1921900
[   93.813200] x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 : 0000000000000000
[   93.818676] x5 : 0000000000000080 x4 : 0000000000000000
[   93.824152] x3 : ffffffd0732a0fa4 x2 : 0000000000000001
[   93.829628] x1 : ffffffacf5bc7580 x0 : 0000000000000061
[   93.835104] Call trace:
[   93.837644]  debug_print_object+0x13c/0x1b0
[   93.841963]  __debug_check_no_obj_freed+0x25c/0x3c0
[   93.846987]  debug_check_no_obj_freed+0x18/0x20
[   93.851669]  slab_free_freelist_hook+0xbc/0x1e4
[   93.856346]  kfree+0xfc/0x2f4
[   93.859416]  rpmsg_ctrldev_release_device+0x78/0xb8
[   93.864445]  device_release+0x84/0x168
[   93.868310]  kobject_cleanup+0x12c/0x298
[   93.872356]  kobject_delayed_cleanup+0x10/0x18
[   93.876948]  process_one_work+0x578/0x92c
[   93.881086]  worker_thread+0x804/0xcf8
[   93.884963]  kthread+0x2a8/0x314
[   93.888303]  ret_from_fork+0x10/0x18

The cdev_device_add/del() API was created to address this issue (see
commit '233ed09d7fda ("chardev: add helper function to register char
devs with a struct device")'), use it instead of cdev add/del().

Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free), CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-48759?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-48759?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-48759 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-48759 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-2022-48759 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-48759 is a high-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-2022-48759 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-2022-48759/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48759/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-48759
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-48759
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-48759

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48759/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.
