# CVE-2022-48914: xen/netfront: destroy queues before real_num_tx_queues is zeroed

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel Xen netfront driver causes a system crash during device removal, leading to 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:** 22 Aug 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-48914, GHSA-qjgq-7w73-7hvf, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-48914

## What is CVE-2022-48914?

CVE-2022-48914 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 22 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:

xen/netfront: destroy queues before real_num_tx_queues is zeroed

xennet_destroy_queues() relies on info->netdev->real_num_tx_queues to
delete queues. Since d7dac083414eb5bb99a6d2ed53dc2c1b405224e5
("net-sysfs: update the queue counts in the unregistration path"),
unregister_netdev() indirectly sets real_num_tx_queues to 0. Those two
facts together means, that xennet_destroy_queues() called from
xennet_remove() cannot do its job, because it's called after
unregister_netdev(). This results in kfree-ing queues that are still
linked in napi, which ultimately crashes:

    BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000
    #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode
    #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page
    PGD 0 P4D 0
    Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP PTI
    CPU: 1 PID: 52 Comm: xenwatch Tainted: G        W         5.16.10-1.32.fc32.qubes.x86_64+ #226
    RIP: 0010:free_netdev+0xa3/0x1a0
    Code: ff 48 89 df e8 2e e9 00 00 48 8b 43 50 48 8b 08 48 8d b8 a0 fe ff ff 48 8d a9 a0 fe ff ff 49 39 c4 75 26 eb 47 e8 ed c1 66 ff <48> 8b 85 60 01 00 00 48 8d 95 60 01 00 00 48 89 ef 48 2d 60 01 00
    RSP: 0000:ffffc90000bcfd00 EFLAGS: 00010286
    RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff88800edad000 RCX: 0000000000000000
    RDX: 0000000000000001 RSI: ffffc90000bcfc30 RDI: 00000000ffffffff
    RBP: fffffffffffffea0 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000
    R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: ffff88800edad050
    R13: ffff8880065f8f88 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: ffff8880066c6680
    FS:  0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8880f3300000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
    CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
    CR2: 0000000000000000 CR3: 00000000e998c006 CR4: 00000000003706e0
    Call Trace:
     <TASK>
     xennet_remove+0x13d/0x300 [xen_netfront]
     xenbus_dev_remove+0x6d/0xf0
     __device_release_driver+0x17a/0x240
     device_release_driver+0x24/0x30
     bus_remove_device+0xd8/0x140
     device_del+0x18b/0x410
     ? _raw_spin_unlock+0x16/0x30
     ? klist_iter_exit+0x14/0x20
     ? xenbus_dev_request_and_reply+0x80/0x80
     device_unregister+0x13/0x60
     xenbus_dev_changed+0x18e/0x1f0
     xenwatch_thread+0xc0/0x1a0
     ? do_wait_intr_irq+0xa0/0xa0
     kthread+0x16b/0x190
     ? set_kthread_struct+0x40/0x40
     ret_from_fork+0x22/0x30
     </TASK>

Fix this by calling xennet_destroy_queues() from xennet_uninit(),
when real_num_tx_queues is still available. This ensures that queues are
destroyed when real_num_tx_queues is set to 0, regardless of how
unregister_netdev() was called.

Originally reported at
https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/7257

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-48914?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-48914?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-48914 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-48914 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-2022-48914 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-48914 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 22 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-2022-48914 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-2022-48914/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48914/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-48914
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-48914
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-48914

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48914/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.