# CVE-2022-49400: md: Don't set mddev private to NULL in raid0 pers->free

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel RAID0 reshape process causes a system panic, leading to denial of service.

- **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:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49400, GHSA-m46p-v6c6-2xv2, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49400

## What is CVE-2022-49400?

CVE-2022-49400 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:

md: Don't set mddev private to NULL in raid0 pers->free

In normal stop process, it does like this:
   do_md_stop
      |
   __md_stop (pers->free(); mddev->private=NULL)
      |
   md_free (free mddev)
__md_stop sets mddev->private to NULL after pers->free. The raid device
will be stopped and mddev memory is free. But in reshape, it doesn't
free the mddev and mddev will still be used in new raid.

In reshape, it first sets mddev->private to new_pers and then runs
old_pers->free(). Now raid0 sets mddev->private to NULL in raid0_free.
The new raid can't work anymore. It will panic when dereference
mddev->private because of NULL pointer dereference.

It can panic like this:
[63010.814972] kernel BUG at drivers/md/raid10.c:928!
[63010.819778] invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI
[63010.825011] CPU: 3 PID: 44437 Comm: md0_resync Kdump: loaded Not tainted 5.14.0-86.el9.x86_64 #1
[63010.833789] Hardware name: Dell Inc. PowerEdge R6415/07YXFK, BIOS 1.15.0 09/11/2020
[63010.841440] RIP: 0010:raise_barrier+0x161/0x170 [raid10]
[63010.865508] RSP: 0018:ffffc312408bbc10 EFLAGS: 00010246
[63010.870734] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffffa00bf7d39800 RCX: 0000000000000000
[63010.877866] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000001 RDI: ffffa00bf7d39800
[63010.884999] RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: fffffa4945e74400 R09: 0000000000000000
[63010.892132] R10: ffffa00eed02f798 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffffa00bbc435200
[63010.899266] R13: ffffa00bf7d39800 R14: 0000000000000400 R15: 0000000000000003
[63010.906399] FS:  0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffffa00eed000000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
[63010.914485] CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
[63010.920229] CR2: 00007f5cfbe99828 CR3: 0000000105efe000 CR4: 00000000003506e0
[63010.927363] Call Trace:
[63010.929822]  ? bio_reset+0xe/0x40
[63010.933144]  ? raid10_alloc_init_r10buf+0x60/0xa0 [raid10]
[63010.938629]  raid10_sync_request+0x756/0x1610 [raid10]
[63010.943770]  md_do_sync.cold+0x3e4/0x94c
[63010.947698]  md_thread+0xab/0x160
[63010.951024]  ? md_write_inc+0x50/0x50
[63010.954688]  kthread+0x149/0x170
[63010.957923]  ? set_kthread_struct+0x40/0x40
[63010.962107]  ret_from_fork+0x22/0x30

Removing the code that sets mddev->private to NULL in raid0 can fix
problem.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49400?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49400?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49400 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49400 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-2022-49400 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49400 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-2022-49400 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-2022-49400/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49400/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49400
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49400
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49400

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49400/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.