# CVE-2022-49428: f2fs: fix to do sanity check on inline_dots inode

> A missing sanity check in the f2fs filesystem allows a local attacker to cause a kernel panic via a crafted image, 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:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49428, GHSA-fvjw-79jq-h4jj, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2022-49428, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49428

## What is CVE-2022-49428?

CVE-2022-49428 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:

f2fs: fix to do sanity check on inline_dots inode

As Wenqing reported in bugzilla:

https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=215765

It will cause a kernel panic with steps:
- mkdir mnt
- mount tmp40.img mnt
- ls mnt

folio_mark_dirty+0x33/0x50
f2fs_add_regular_entry+0x541/0xad0 [f2fs]
f2fs_add_dentry+0x6c/0xb0 [f2fs]
f2fs_do_add_link+0x182/0x230 [f2fs]
__recover_dot_dentries+0x2d6/0x470 [f2fs]
f2fs_lookup+0x5af/0x6a0 [f2fs]
__lookup_slow+0xac/0x200
lookup_slow+0x45/0x70
walk_component+0x16c/0x250
path_lookupat+0x8b/0x1f0
filename_lookup+0xef/0x250
user_path_at_empty+0x46/0x70
vfs_statx+0x98/0x190
__do_sys_newlstat+0x41/0x90
__x64_sys_newlstat+0x1a/0x30
do_syscall_64+0x37/0xb0
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae

The root cause is for special file: e.g. character, block, fifo or
socket file, f2fs doesn't assign address space operations pointer array
for mapping->a_ops field, so, in a fuzzed image, if inline_dots flag was
tagged in special file, during lookup(), when f2fs runs into
__recover_dot_dentries(), it will cause NULL pointer access once
f2fs_add_regular_entry() calls a_ops->set_dirty_page().

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49428?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49428?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49428 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49428 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-2022-49428 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49428 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-2022-49428 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-2022-49428/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49428/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49428
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49428
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49428

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49428/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.