# CVE-2022-49007: nilfs2: fix NULL pointer dereference in nilfs_palloc_commit_free_entry()

> A NULL pointer dereference in the nilfs2 filesystem allows local attackers to cause a system crash via crafted operations.

- **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-2022-49007, GHSA-9mmp-2f66-mf43, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49007

## What is CVE-2022-49007?

CVE-2022-49007 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:

nilfs2: fix NULL pointer dereference in nilfs_palloc_commit_free_entry()

Syzbot reported a null-ptr-deref bug:

 NILFS (loop0): segctord starting. Construction interval = 5 seconds, CP
 frequency < 30 seconds
 general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address
 0xdffffc0000000002: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN
 KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000010-0x0000000000000017]
 CPU: 1 PID: 3603 Comm: segctord Not tainted
 6.1.0-rc2-syzkaller-00105-gb229b6ca5abb #0
 Hardware name: Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google
 10/11/2022
 RIP: 0010:nilfs_palloc_commit_free_entry+0xe5/0x6b0
 fs/nilfs2/alloc.c:608
 Code: 00 00 00 00 fc ff df 80 3c 02 00 0f 85 cd 05 00 00 48 b8 00 00 00
 00 00 fc ff df 4c 8b 73 08 49 8d 7e 10 48 89 fa 48 c1 ea 03 <80> 3c 02
 00 0f 85 26 05 00 00 49 8b 46 10 be a6 00 00 00 48 c7 c7
 RSP: 0018:ffffc90003dff830 EFLAGS: 00010212
 RAX: dffffc0000000000 RBX: ffff88802594e218 RCX: 000000000000000d
 RDX: 0000000000000002 RSI: 0000000000002000 RDI: 0000000000000010
 RBP: ffff888071880222 R08: 0000000000000005 R09: 000000000000003f
 R10: 000000000000000d R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffff888071880158
 R13: ffff88802594e220 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 0000000000000004
 FS:  0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8880b9b00000(0000)
 knlGS:0000000000000000
 CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
 CR2: 00007fb1c08316a8 CR3: 0000000018560000 CR4: 0000000000350ee0
 Call Trace:
  <TASK>
  nilfs_dat_commit_free fs/nilfs2/dat.c:114 [inline]
  nilfs_dat_commit_end+0x464/0x5f0 fs/nilfs2/dat.c:193
  nilfs_dat_commit_update+0x26/0x40 fs/nilfs2/dat.c:236
  nilfs_btree_commit_update_v+0x87/0x4a0 fs/nilfs2/btree.c:1940
  nilfs_btree_commit_propagate_v fs/nilfs2/btree.c:2016 [inline]
  nilfs_btree_propagate_v fs/nilfs2/btree.c:2046 [inline]
  nilfs_btree_propagate+0xa00/0xd60 fs/nilfs2/btree.c:2088
  nilfs_bmap_propagate+0x73/0x170 fs/nilfs2/bmap.c:337
  nilfs_collect_file_data+0x45/0xd0 fs/nilfs2/segment.c:568
  nilfs_segctor_apply_buffers+0x14a/0x470 fs/nilfs2/segment.c:1018
  nilfs_segctor_scan_file+0x3f4/0x6f0 fs/nilfs2/segment.c:1067
  nilfs_segctor_collect_blocks fs/nilfs2/segment.c:1197 [inline]
  nilfs_segctor_collect fs/nilfs2/segment.c:1503 [inline]
  nilfs_segctor_do_construct+0x12fc/0x6af0 fs/nilfs2/segment.c:2045
  nilfs_segctor_construct+0x8e3/0xb30 fs/nilfs2/segment.c:2379
  nilfs_segctor_thread_construct fs/nilfs2/segment.c:2487 [inline]
  nilfs_segctor_thread+0x3c3/0xf30 fs/nilfs2/segment.c:2570
  kthread+0x2e4/0x3a0 kernel/kthread.c:376
  ret_from_fork+0x1f/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:306
  </TASK>
 ...

If DAT metadata file is corrupted on disk, there is a case where
req->pr_desc_bh is NULL and blocknr is 0 at nilfs_dat_commit_end() during
a b-tree operation that cascadingly updates ancestor nodes of the b-tree,
because nilfs_dat_commit_alloc() for a lower level block can initialize
the blocknr on the same DAT entry between nilfs_dat_prepare_end() and
nilfs_dat_commit_end().

If this happens, nilfs_dat_commit_end() calls nilfs_dat_commit_free()
without valid buffer heads in req->pr_desc_bh and req->pr_bitmap_bh, and
causes the NULL pointer dereference above in
nilfs_palloc_commit_free_entry() function, which leads to a crash.

Fix this by adding a NULL check on req->pr_desc_bh and req->pr_bitmap_bh
before nilfs_palloc_commit_free_entry() in nilfs_dat_commit_free().

This also calls nilfs_error() in that case to notify that there is a fatal
flaw in the filesystem metadata and prevent further operations.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49007?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49007?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49007 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49007 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-2022-49007 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49007 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-2022-49007 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-2022-49007/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49007/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49007
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49007
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49007

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49007/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.
