# CVE-2022-49073: ata: sata_dwc_460ex: Fix crash due to OOB write

> An out-of-bounds write in the sata_dwc_460ex driver causes a kernel crash, leading to denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 26 Feb 2025
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49073, GHSA-2659-557q-cph8, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49073

## What is CVE-2022-49073?

CVE-2022-49073 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 26 Feb 2025. 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:

ata: sata_dwc_460ex: Fix crash due to OOB write

the driver uses libata's "tag" values from in various arrays.
Since the mentioned patch bumped the ATA_TAG_INTERNAL to 32,
the value of the SATA_DWC_QCMD_MAX needs to account for that.

Otherwise ATA_TAG_INTERNAL usage cause similar crashes like
this as reported by Tice Rex on the OpenWrt Forum and
reproduced (with symbols) here:

| BUG: Kernel NULL pointer dereference at 0x00000000
| Faulting instruction address: 0xc03ed4b8
| Oops: Kernel access of bad area, sig: 11 [#1]
| BE PAGE_SIZE=4K PowerPC 44x Platform
| CPU: 0 PID: 362 Comm: scsi_eh_1 Not tainted 5.4.163 #0
| NIP:  c03ed4b8 LR: c03d27e8 CTR: c03ed36c
| REGS: cfa59950 TRAP: 0300   Not tainted  (5.4.163)
| MSR:  00021000 <CE,ME>  CR: 42000222  XER: 00000000
| DEAR: 00000000 ESR: 00000000
| GPR00: c03d27e8 cfa59a08 cfa55fe0 00000000 0fa46bc0 [...]
| [..]
| NIP [c03ed4b8] sata_dwc_qc_issue+0x14c/0x254
| LR [c03d27e8] ata_qc_issue+0x1c8/0x2dc
| Call Trace:
| [cfa59a08] [c003f4e0] __cancel_work_timer+0x124/0x194 (unreliable)
| [cfa59a78] [c03d27e8] ata_qc_issue+0x1c8/0x2dc
| [cfa59a98] [c03d2b3c] ata_exec_internal_sg+0x240/0x524
| [cfa59b08] [c03d2e98] ata_exec_internal+0x78/0xe0
| [cfa59b58] [c03d30fc] ata_read_log_page.part.38+0x1dc/0x204
| [cfa59bc8] [c03d324c] ata_identify_page_supported+0x68/0x130
| [...]

This is because sata_dwc_dma_xfer_complete() NULLs the
dma_pending's next neighbour "chan" (a *dma_chan struct) in
this '32' case right here (line ~735):
> hsdevp->dma_pending[tag] = SATA_DWC_DMA_PENDING_NONE;

Then the next time, a dma gets issued; dma_dwc_xfer_setup() passes
the NULL'd hsdevp->chan to the dmaengine_slave_config() which then
causes the crash.

With this patch, SATA_DWC_QCMD_MAX is now set to ATA_MAX_QUEUE + 1.
This avoids the OOB. But please note, there was a worthwhile discussion
on what ATA_TAG_INTERNAL and ATA_MAX_QUEUE is. And why there should not
be a "fake" 33 command-long queue size.

Ideally, the dw driver should account for the ATA_TAG_INTERNAL.
In Damien Le Moal's words: "... having looked at the driver, it
is a bigger change than just faking a 33rd "tag" that is in fact
not a command tag at all."

BugLink: https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/issues/9505

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49073?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49073?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49073 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49073 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-2022-49073 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49073 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 26 Feb 2025. 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-2022-49073 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-2022-49073/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49073/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49073
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49073
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49073

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49073/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.