CVE-2022-49081 highmem: fix checks in __kmap_local_sched_{in,out}
A logic error in Linux kernel highmem checks causes runtime warnings and potential instability when debug options are enabled.
- 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
What is CVE-2022-49081?
CVE-2022-49081 is a medium-severity denial of service 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:
highmem: fix checks in __kmap_local_sched_{in,out}
When CONFIG_DEBUG_KMAP_LOCAL is enabled __kmap_local_sched_{in,out} check that even slots in the tsk->kmap_ctrl.pteval are unmapped. The slots are initialized with 0 value, but the check is done with pte_none. 0 pte however does not necessarily mean that pte_none will return true. e.g. on xtensa it returns false, resulting in the following runtime warnings:
WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 101 at mm/highmem.c:627 __kmap_local_sched_out+0x51/0x108 CPU: 0 PID: 101 Comm: touch Not tainted 5.17.0-rc7-00010-gd3a1cdde80d2-dirty #13 Call Trace: dump_stack+0xc/0x40 __warn+0x8f/0x174 warn_slowpath_fmt+0x48/0xac __kmap_local_sched_out+0x51/0x108 __schedule+0x71a/0x9c4 preempt_schedule_irq+0xa0/0xe0 common_exception_return+0x5c/0x93 do_wp_page+0x30e/0x330 handle_mm_fault+0xa70/0xc3c do_page_fault+0x1d8/0x3c4 common_exception+0x7f/0x7f
WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 101 at mm/highmem.c:664 __kmap_local_sched_in+0x50/0xe0 CPU: 0 PID: 101 Comm: touch Tainted: G W 5.17.0-rc7-00010-gd3a1cdde80d2-dirty #13 Call Trace: dump_stack+0xc/0x40 __warn+0x8f/0x174 warn_slowpath_fmt+0x48/0xac __kmap_local_sched_in+0x50/0xe0 finish_task_switch$isra$0+0x1ce/0x2f8 __schedule+0x86e/0x9c4 preempt_schedule_irq+0xa0/0xe0 common_exception_return+0x5c/0x93 do_wp_page+0x30e/0x330 handle_mm_fault+0xa70/0xc3c do_page_fault+0x1d8/0x3c4 common_exception+0x7f/0x7f
Fix it by replacing !pte_none(pteval) with pte_val(pteval) != 0.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49081?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2022-49081?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2022-49081 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49081 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49081, GHSA-v3gm-f9gf-wg97, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49081.