# CVE-2022-49257: watch_queue: Fix NULL dereference in error cleanup

> A NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel's watch_queue error cleanup allows local attackers to cause a system crash.

- **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:** 26 Feb 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49257, GHSA-f5rq-w7xf-cjx9, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49257

## What is CVE-2022-49257?

CVE-2022-49257 is a medium-severity 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:

watch_queue: Fix NULL dereference in error cleanup

In watch_queue_set_size(), the error cleanup code doesn't take account of
the fact that __free_page() can't handle a NULL pointer when trying to free
up buffer pages that did get allocated.

Fix this by only calling __free_page() on the pages actually allocated.

Without the fix, this can lead to something like the following:

BUG: KASAN: null-ptr-deref in __free_pages+0x1f/0x1b0 mm/page_alloc.c:5473
Read of size 4 at addr 0000000000000034 by task syz-executor168/3599
...
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:88 [inline]
 dump_stack_lvl+0xcd/0x134 lib/dump_stack.c:106
 __kasan_report mm/kasan/report.c:446 [inline]
 kasan_report.cold+0x66/0xdf mm/kasan/report.c:459
 check_region_inline mm/kasan/generic.c:183 [inline]
 kasan_check_range+0x13d/0x180 mm/kasan/generic.c:189
 instrument_atomic_read include/linux/instrumented.h:71 [inline]
 atomic_read include/linux/atomic/atomic-instrumented.h:27 [inline]
 page_ref_count include/linux/page_ref.h:67 [inline]
 put_page_testzero include/linux/mm.h:717 [inline]
 __free_pages+0x1f/0x1b0 mm/page_alloc.c:5473
 watch_queue_set_size+0x499/0x630 kernel/watch_queue.c:275
 pipe_ioctl+0xac/0x2b0 fs/pipe.c:632
 vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 [inline]
 __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:874 [inline]
 __se_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:860 [inline]
 __x64_sys_ioctl+0x193/0x200 fs/ioctl.c:860
 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline]
 do_syscall_64+0x35/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80
 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49257?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49257?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49257 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49257 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-2022-49257 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49257 is a medium-severity 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-2022-49257 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-2022-49257/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49257/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49257
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49257
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49257

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49257/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.