# CVE-2022-48884: net/mlx5: Fix command stats access after free

> A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel mlx5 driver allows local attackers to cause a system crash via NULL pointer dereference.

- **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:** 21 Aug 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-48884, GHSA-6vhv-fv5r-vfg6, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-48884

## What is CVE-2022-48884?

CVE-2022-48884 is a medium-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:

net/mlx5: Fix command stats access after free

Command may fail while driver is reloading and can't accept FW commands
till command interface is reinitialized. Such command failure is being
logged to command stats. This results in NULL pointer access as command
stats structure is being freed and reallocated during mlx5 devlink
reload (see kernel log below).

Fix it by making command stats statically allocated on driver probe.

Kernel log:
[ 2394.808802] BUG: unable to handle kernel paging request at 000000000002a9c0
[ 2394.810610] PGD 0 P4D 0
[ 2394.811811] Oops: 0002 [#1] SMP NOPTI
...
[ 2394.815482] RIP: 0010:native_queued_spin_lock_slowpath+0x183/0x1d0
...
[ 2394.829505] Call Trace:
[ 2394.830667]  _raw_spin_lock_irq+0x23/0x26
[ 2394.831858]  cmd_status_err+0x55/0x110 [mlx5_core]
[ 2394.833020]  mlx5_access_reg+0xe7/0x150 [mlx5_core]
[ 2394.834175]  mlx5_query_port_ptys+0x78/0xa0 [mlx5_core]
[ 2394.835337]  mlx5e_ethtool_get_link_ksettings+0x74/0x590 [mlx5_core]
[ 2394.836454]  ? kmem_cache_alloc_trace+0x140/0x1c0
[ 2394.837562]  __rh_call_get_link_ksettings+0x33/0x100
[ 2394.838663]  ? __rtnl_unlock+0x25/0x50
[ 2394.839755]  __ethtool_get_link_ksettings+0x72/0x150
[ 2394.840862]  duplex_show+0x6e/0xc0
[ 2394.841963]  dev_attr_show+0x1c/0x40
[ 2394.843048]  sysfs_kf_seq_show+0x9b/0x100
[ 2394.844123]  seq_read+0x153/0x410
[ 2394.845187]  vfs_read+0x91/0x140
[ 2394.846226]  ksys_read+0x4f/0xb0
[ 2394.847234]  do_syscall_64+0x5b/0x1a0
[ 2394.848228]  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x65/0xca

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-48884?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-48884?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-48884 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-48884 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-2022-48884 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-48884 is a medium-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-2022-48884 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-2022-48884/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48884/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-48884
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-48884
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-48884

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48884/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.