# CVE-2022-48769: efi: runtime: avoid EFIv2 runtime services on Apple x86 machines

> Linux kernel crashes on Apple x86 machines when calling EFI v2 runtime services, causing a denial of service.

- **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:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-48769, GHSA-xprq-wxmv-vch9, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-48769

## What is CVE-2022-48769?

CVE-2022-48769 is a medium-severity denial of service 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:

efi: runtime: avoid EFIv2 runtime services on Apple x86 machines

Aditya reports [0] that his recent MacbookPro crashes in the firmware
when using the variable services at runtime. The culprit appears to be a
call to QueryVariableInfo(), which we did not use to call on Apple x86
machines in the past as they only upgraded from EFI v1.10 to EFI v2.40
firmware fairly recently, and QueryVariableInfo() (along with
UpdateCapsule() et al) was added in EFI v2.00.

The only runtime service introduced in EFI v2.00 that we actually use in
Linux is QueryVariableInfo(), as the capsule based ones are optional,
generally not used at runtime (all the LVFS/fwupd firmware update
infrastructure uses helper EFI programs that invoke capsule update at
boot time, not runtime), and not implemented by Apple machines in the
first place. QueryVariableInfo() is used to 'safely' set variables,
i.e., only when there is enough space. This prevents machines with buggy
firmwares from corrupting their NVRAMs when they run out of space.

Given that Apple machines have been using EFI v1.10 services only for
the longest time (the EFI v2.0 spec was released in 2006, and Linux
support for the newly introduced runtime services was added in 2011, but
the MacbookPro12,1 released in 2015 still claims to be EFI v1.10 only),
let's avoid the EFI v2.0 ones on all Apple x86 machines.

[0] https://lore.kernel.org/all/6D757C75-65B1-468B-842D-10410081A8E4@live.com/

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-48769?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-48769?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-48769 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-48769 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-2022-48769 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-48769 is a medium-severity denial of service 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-2022-48769 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-2022-48769/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48769/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-48769
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-48769
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-48769

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48769/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.