# CVE-2022-48894: iommu/arm-smmu-v3: Don't unregister on shutdown

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel ARM SMMUv3 driver during shutdown can cause a system crash.

- **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-2022-48894, GHSA-mmx6-88qc-4g5c, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-48894

## What is CVE-2022-48894?

CVE-2022-48894 is a medium-severity 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:

iommu/arm-smmu-v3: Don't unregister on shutdown

Similar to SMMUv2, this driver calls iommu_device_unregister() from the
shutdown path, which removes the IOMMU groups with no coordination
whatsoever with their users - shutdown methods are optional in device
drivers. This can lead to NULL pointer dereferences in those drivers'
DMA API calls, or worse.

Instead of calling the full arm_smmu_device_remove() from
arm_smmu_device_shutdown(), let's pick only the relevant function call -
arm_smmu_device_disable() - more or less the reverse of
arm_smmu_device_reset() - and call just that from the shutdown path.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-48894?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-48894?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-48894 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-48894 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-2022-48894 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-48894 is a medium-severity 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-2022-48894 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-2022-48894/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48894/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-48894
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-48894
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-48894

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48894/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.