# CVE-2022-49402: ftrace: Clean up hash direct_functions on register failures

> A general protection fault occurs in the Linux kernel when ftrace direct function registration fails, leading to 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-2022-49402, GHSA-h7fw-6m79-qh62, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49402

## What is CVE-2022-49402?

CVE-2022-49402 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:

ftrace: Clean up hash direct_functions on register failures

We see the following GPF when register_ftrace_direct fails:

[ ] general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address \
  0x200000000000010: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP DEBUG_PAGEALLOC PTI
[...]
[ ] RIP: 0010:ftrace_find_rec_direct+0x53/0x70
[ ] Code: 48 c1 e0 03 48 03 42 08 48 8b 10 31 c0 48 85 d2 74 [...]
[ ] RSP: 0018:ffffc9000138bc10 EFLAGS: 00010206
[ ] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffffffff813e0df0 RCX: 000000000000003b
[ ] RDX: 0200000000000000 RSI: 000000000000000c RDI: ffffffff813e0df0
[ ] RBP: ffffffffa00a3000 R08: ffffffff81180ce0 R09: 0000000000000001
[ ] R10: ffffc9000138bc18 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: ffffffff813e0df0
[ ] R13: ffffffff813e0df0 R14: ffff888171b56400 R15: 0000000000000000
[ ] FS:  00007fa9420c7780(0000) GS:ffff888ff6a00000(0000) knlGS:000000000
[ ] CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
[ ] CR2: 000000000770d000 CR3: 0000000107d50003 CR4: 0000000000370ee0
[ ] DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000
[ ] DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400
[ ] Call Trace:
[ ]  <TASK>
[ ]  register_ftrace_direct+0x54/0x290
[ ]  ? render_sigset_t+0xa0/0xa0
[ ]  bpf_trampoline_update+0x3f5/0x4a0
[ ]  ? 0xffffffffa00a3000
[ ]  bpf_trampoline_link_prog+0xa9/0x140
[ ]  bpf_tracing_prog_attach+0x1dc/0x450
[ ]  bpf_raw_tracepoint_open+0x9a/0x1e0
[ ]  ? find_held_lock+0x2d/0x90
[ ]  ? lock_release+0x150/0x430
[ ]  __sys_bpf+0xbd6/0x2700
[ ]  ? lock_is_held_type+0xd8/0x130
[ ]  __x64_sys_bpf+0x1c/0x20
[ ]  do_syscall_64+0x3a/0x80
[ ]  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae
[ ] RIP: 0033:0x7fa9421defa9
[ ] Code: 00 c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 0f 1f 44 00 00 9 f8 [...]
[ ] RSP: 002b:00007ffed743bd78 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000141
[ ] RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00000000069d2480 RCX: 00007fa9421defa9
[ ] RDX: 0000000000000078 RSI: 00007ffed743bd80 RDI: 0000000000000011
[ ] RBP: 00007ffed743be00 R08: 0000000000bb7270 R09: 0000000000000000
[ ] R10: 00000000069da210 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 0000000000000001
[ ] R13: 00007ffed743c4b0 R14: 00000000069d2480 R15: 0000000000000001
[ ]  </TASK>
[ ] Modules linked in: klp_vm(OK)
[ ] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---

One way to trigger this is:
  1. load a livepatch that patches kernel function xxx;
  2. run bpftrace -e 'kfunc:xxx {}', this will fail (expected for now);
  3. repeat #2 => gpf.

This is because the entry is added to direct_functions, but not removed.
Fix this by remove the entry from direct_functions when
register_ftrace_direct fails.

Also remove the last trailing space from ftrace.c, so we don't have to
worry about it anymore.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49402?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49402?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49402 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49402 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-2022-49402 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49402 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-2022-49402 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-2022-49402/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49402/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49402
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49402
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49402

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49402/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.