# CVE-2022-48781: crypto: af_alg - get rid of alg_memory_allocated

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel crypto subsystem allows local attackers to cause a system crash via setsockopt.

- **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:** 16 Jul 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-48781, GHSA-9v24-vr9v-j466, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-48781

## What is CVE-2022-48781?

CVE-2022-48781 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 16 Jul 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:

crypto: af_alg - get rid of alg_memory_allocated

alg_memory_allocated does not seem to be really used.

alg_proto does have a .memory_allocated field, but no
corresponding .sysctl_mem.

This means sk_has_account() returns true, but all sk_prot_mem_limits()
users will trigger a NULL dereference [1].

THis was not a problem until SO_RESERVE_MEM addition.

general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000001: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN
KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000008-0x000000000000000f]
CPU: 1 PID: 3591 Comm: syz-executor153 Not tainted 5.17.0-rc3-syzkaller-00316-gb81b1829e7e3 #0
Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 01/01/2011
RIP: 0010:sk_prot_mem_limits include/net/sock.h:1523 [inline]
RIP: 0010:sock_reserve_memory+0x1d7/0x330 net/core/sock.c:1000
Code: 08 00 74 08 48 89 ef e8 27 20 bb f9 4c 03 7c 24 10 48 8b 6d 00 48 83 c5 08 48 89 e8 48 c1 e8 03 48 b9 00 00 00 00 00 fc ff df <80> 3c 08 00 74 08 48 89 ef e8 fb 1f bb f9 48 8b 6d 00 4c 89 ff 48
RSP: 0018:ffffc90001f1fb68 EFLAGS: 00010202
RAX: 0000000000000001 RBX: ffff88814aabc000 RCX: dffffc0000000000
RDX: 0000000000000001 RSI: 0000000000000008 RDI: ffffffff90e18120
RBP: 0000000000000008 R08: dffffc0000000000 R09: fffffbfff21c3025
R10: fffffbfff21c3025 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffffffff8d109840
R13: 0000000000001002 R14: 0000000000000001 R15: 0000000000000001
FS:  0000555556e08300(0000) GS:ffff8880b9b00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
CR2: 00007fc74416f130 CR3: 0000000073d9e000 CR4: 00000000003506e0
DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000
DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 sock_setsockopt+0x14a9/0x3a30 net/core/sock.c:1446
 __sys_setsockopt+0x5af/0x980 net/socket.c:2176
 __do_sys_setsockopt net/socket.c:2191 [inline]
 __se_sys_setsockopt net/socket.c:2188 [inline]
 __x64_sys_setsockopt+0xb1/0xc0 net/socket.c:2188
 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline]
 do_syscall_64+0x44/0xd0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80
 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae
RIP: 0033:0x7fc7440fddc9
Code: 28 00 00 00 75 05 48 83 c4 28 c3 e8 51 15 00 00 90 48 89 f8 48 89 f7 48 89 d6 48 89 ca 4d 89 c2 4d 89 c8 4c 8b 4c 24 08 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 c7 c1 c0 ff ff ff f7 d8 64 89 01 48
RSP: 002b:00007ffe98f07968 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000036
RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000000000000003 RCX: 00007fc7440fddc9
RDX: 0000000000000049 RSI: 0000000000000001 RDI: 0000000000000004
RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: 0000000000000004 R09: 00007ffe98f07990
R10: 0000000020000000 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 00007ffe98f0798c
R13: 00007ffe98f079a0 R14: 00007ffe98f079e0 R15: 0000000000000000
 </TASK>
Modules linked in:
---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---
RIP: 0010:sk_prot_mem_limits include/net/sock.h:1523 [inline]
RIP: 0010:sock_reserve_memory+0x1d7/0x330 net/core/sock.c:1000
Code: 08 00 74 08 48 89 ef e8 27 20 bb f9 4c 03 7c 24 10 48 8b 6d 00 48 83 c5 08 48 89 e8 48 c1 e8 03 48 b9 00 00 00 00 00 fc ff df <80> 3c 08 00 74 08 48 89 ef e8 fb 1f bb f9 48 8b 6d 00 4c 89 ff 48
RSP: 0018:ffffc90001f1fb68 EFLAGS: 00010202
RAX: 0000000000000001 RBX: ffff88814aabc000 RCX: dffffc0000000000
RDX: 0000000000000001 RSI: 0000000000000008 RDI: ffffffff90e18120
RBP: 0000000000000008 R08: dffffc0000000000 R09: fffffbfff21c3025
R10: fffffbfff21c3025 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffffffff8d109840
R13: 0000000000001002 R14: 0000000000000001 R15: 0000000000000001
FS:  0000555556e08300(0000) GS:ffff8880b9b00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
CR2: 00007fc74416f130 CR3: 0000000073d9e000 CR4: 00000000003506e0
DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-48781?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-48781?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-48781 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-48781 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-2022-48781 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-48781 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 16 Jul 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-2022-48781 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-2022-48781/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48781/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-48781
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-48781
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-48781

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48781/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.