# CVE-2022-48878: Bluetooth: hci_qca: Fix driver shutdown on closed serdev

> A use-after-free in the Linux kernel Bluetooth driver causes a system crash during reboot when the HCI device is closed.

- **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:** 21 Aug 2024
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-48878, GHSA-wcc4-c252-rxxr, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-48878

## What is CVE-2022-48878?

CVE-2022-48878 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 21 Aug 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:

Bluetooth: hci_qca: Fix driver shutdown on closed serdev

The driver shutdown callback (which sends EDL_SOC_RESET to the device
over serdev) should not be invoked when HCI device is not open (e.g. if
hci_dev_open_sync() failed), because the serdev and its TTY are not open
either.  Also skip this step if device is powered off
(qca_power_shutdown()).

The shutdown callback causes use-after-free during system reboot with
Qualcomm Atheros Bluetooth:

  Unable to handle kernel paging request at virtual address
  0072662f67726fd7
  ...
  CPU: 6 PID: 1 Comm: systemd-shutdow Tainted: G        W
  6.1.0-rt5-00325-g8a5f56bcfcca #8
  Hardware name: Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. Robotics RB5 (DT)
  Call trace:
   tty_driver_flush_buffer+0x4/0x30
   serdev_device_write_flush+0x24/0x34
   qca_serdev_shutdown+0x80/0x130 [hci_uart]
   device_shutdown+0x15c/0x260
   kernel_restart+0x48/0xac

KASAN report:

  BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in tty_driver_flush_buffer+0x1c/0x50
  Read of size 8 at addr ffff16270c2e0018 by task systemd-shutdow/1

  CPU: 7 PID: 1 Comm: systemd-shutdow Not tainted
  6.1.0-next-20221220-00014-gb85aaf97fb01-dirty #28
  Hardware name: Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. Robotics RB5 (DT)
  Call trace:
   dump_backtrace.part.0+0xdc/0xf0
   show_stack+0x18/0x30
   dump_stack_lvl+0x68/0x84
   print_report+0x188/0x488
   kasan_report+0xa4/0xf0
   __asan_load8+0x80/0xac
   tty_driver_flush_buffer+0x1c/0x50
   ttyport_write_flush+0x34/0x44
   serdev_device_write_flush+0x48/0x60
   qca_serdev_shutdown+0x124/0x274
   device_shutdown+0x1e8/0x350
   kernel_restart+0x48/0xb0
   __do_sys_reboot+0x244/0x2d0
   __arm64_sys_reboot+0x54/0x70
   invoke_syscall+0x60/0x190
   el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0x7c/0x160
   do_el0_svc+0x44/0xf0
   el0_svc+0x2c/0x6c
   el0t_64_sync_handler+0xbc/0x140
   el0t_64_sync+0x190/0x194

Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-48878?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-48878?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-48878 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-48878 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-2022-48878 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-48878 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 21 Aug 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-2022-48878 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-2022-48878/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48878/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-48878
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-48878
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-48878

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48878/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.