# CVE-2022-49441: tty: fix deadlock caused by calling printk() under tty_port->lock

> A deadlock in the Linux kernel tty subsystem can cause a system hang, requiring a patch to prevent 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-2022-49441, GHSA-c7gr-crgh-pwcp, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49441

## What is CVE-2022-49441?

CVE-2022-49441 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:

tty: fix deadlock caused by calling printk() under tty_port->lock

pty_write() invokes kmalloc() which may invoke a normal printk() to print
failure message.  This can cause a deadlock in the scenario reported by
syz-bot below:

       CPU0              CPU1                    CPU2
       ----              ----                    ----
                         lock(console_owner);
                                                 lock(&port_lock_key);
  lock(&port->lock);
                         lock(&port_lock_key);
                                                 lock(&port->lock);
  lock(console_owner);

As commit dbdda842fe96 ("printk: Add console owner and waiter logic to
load balance console writes") said, such deadlock can be prevented by
using printk_deferred() in kmalloc() (which is invoked in the section
guarded by the port->lock).  But there are too many printk() on the
kmalloc() path, and kmalloc() can be called from anywhere, so changing
printk() to printk_deferred() is too complicated and inelegant.

Therefore, this patch chooses to specify __GFP_NOWARN to kmalloc(), so
that printk() will not be called, and this deadlock problem can be
avoided.

Syzbot reported the following lockdep error:

======================================================
WARNING: possible circular locking dependency detected
5.4.143-00237-g08ccc19a-dirty #10 Not tainted
------------------------------------------------------
syz-executor.4/29420 is trying to acquire lock:
ffffffff8aedb2a0 (console_owner){....}-{0:0}, at: console_trylock_spinning kernel/printk/printk.c:1752 [inline]
ffffffff8aedb2a0 (console_owner){....}-{0:0}, at: vprintk_emit+0x2ca/0x470 kernel/printk/printk.c:2023

but task is already holding lock:
ffff8880119c9158 (&port->lock){-.-.}-{2:2}, at: pty_write+0xf4/0x1f0 drivers/tty/pty.c:120

which lock already depends on the new lock.

the existing dependency chain (in reverse order) is:

-> #2 (&port->lock){-.-.}-{2:2}:
       __raw_spin_lock_irqsave include/linux/spinlock_api_smp.h:110 [inline]
       _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x35/0x50 kernel/locking/spinlock.c:159
       tty_port_tty_get drivers/tty/tty_port.c:288 [inline]          		<-- lock(&port->lock);
       tty_port_default_wakeup+0x1d/0xb0 drivers/tty/tty_port.c:47
       serial8250_tx_chars+0x530/0xa80 drivers/tty/serial/8250/8250_port.c:1767
       serial8250_handle_irq.part.0+0x31f/0x3d0 drivers/tty/serial/8250/8250_port.c:1854
       serial8250_handle_irq drivers/tty/serial/8250/8250_port.c:1827 [inline] 	<-- lock(&port_lock_key);
       serial8250_default_handle_irq+0xb2/0x220 drivers/tty/serial/8250/8250_port.c:1870
       serial8250_interrupt+0xfd/0x200 drivers/tty/serial/8250/8250_core.c:126
       __handle_irq_event_percpu+0x109/0xa50 kernel/irq/handle.c:156
       [...]

-> #1 (&port_lock_key){-.-.}-{2:2}:
       __raw_spin_lock_irqsave include/linux/spinlock_api_smp.h:110 [inline]
       _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x35/0x50 kernel/locking/spinlock.c:159
       serial8250_console_write+0x184/0xa40 drivers/tty/serial/8250/8250_port.c:3198
										<-- lock(&port_lock_key);
       call_console_drivers kernel/printk/printk.c:1819 [inline]
       console_unlock+0x8cb/0xd00 kernel/printk/printk.c:2504
       vprintk_emit+0x1b5/0x470 kernel/printk/printk.c:2024			<-- lock(console_owner);
       vprintk_func+0x8d/0x250 kernel/printk/printk_safe.c:394
       printk+0xba/0xed kernel/printk/printk.c:2084
       register_console+0x8b3/0xc10 kernel/printk/printk.c:2829
       univ8250_console_init+0x3a/0x46 drivers/tty/serial/8250/8250_core.c:681
       console_init+0x49d/0x6d3 kernel/printk/printk.c:2915
       start_kernel+0x5e9/0x879 init/main.c:713
       secondary_startup_64+0xa4/0xb0 arch/x86/kernel/head_64.S:241

-> #0 (console_owner){....}-{0:0}:
       [...]
       lock_acquire+0x127/0x340 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:4734
       console_trylock_spinning kernel/printk/printk.c:1773 
---truncated---

Weakness: CWE-667 (Improper Locking)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49441?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49441?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49441 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49441 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-2022-49441 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49441 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49441 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-2022-49441/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49441/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49441
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49441
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49441

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49441/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.