# CVE-2022-48972: mac802154: fix missing INIT_LIST_HEAD in ieee802154_if_add()

> A missing list initialization in the Linux kernel mac802154 subsystem causes a null pointer dereference, leading to a system crash during device registration.

- **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 Oct 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-48972, GHSA-64w2-5c96-v3qj, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-48972

## What is CVE-2022-48972?

CVE-2022-48972 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 21 Oct 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:

mac802154: fix missing INIT_LIST_HEAD in ieee802154_if_add()

Kernel fault injection test reports null-ptr-deref as follows:

BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000008
RIP: 0010:cfg802154_netdev_notifier_call+0x120/0x310 include/linux/list.h:114
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 raw_notifier_call_chain+0x6d/0xa0 kernel/notifier.c:87
 call_netdevice_notifiers_info+0x6e/0xc0 net/core/dev.c:1944
 unregister_netdevice_many_notify+0x60d/0xcb0 net/core/dev.c:1982
 unregister_netdevice_queue+0x154/0x1a0 net/core/dev.c:10879
 register_netdevice+0x9a8/0xb90 net/core/dev.c:10083
 ieee802154_if_add+0x6ed/0x7e0 net/mac802154/iface.c:659
 ieee802154_register_hw+0x29c/0x330 net/mac802154/main.c:229
 mcr20a_probe+0xaaa/0xcb1 drivers/net/ieee802154/mcr20a.c:1316

ieee802154_if_add() allocates wpan_dev as netdev's private data, but not
init the list in struct wpan_dev. cfg802154_netdev_notifier_call() manage
the list when device register/unregister, and may lead to null-ptr-deref.

Use INIT_LIST_HEAD() on it to initialize it correctly.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-48972?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-48972?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-48972 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-48972 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-2022-48972 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-48972 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 21 Oct 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-2022-48972 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-2022-48972/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48972/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-48972
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-48972
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-48972

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48972/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.