# CVE-2022-49443: list: fix a data-race around ep->rdllist

> A data race in the Linux kernel's epoll implementation can lead to system instability or crashes due to unsynchronized list access.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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-2022-49443, GHSA-547x-8cmf-v92w, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2022-49443, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49443

## What is CVE-2022-49443?

CVE-2022-49443 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:

list: fix a data-race around ep->rdllist

ep_poll() first calls ep_events_available() with no lock held and checks
if ep->rdllist is empty by list_empty_careful(), which reads
rdllist->prev.  Thus all accesses to it need some protection to avoid
store/load-tearing.

Note INIT_LIST_HEAD_RCU() already has the annotation for both prev
and next.

Commit bf3b9f6372c4 ("epoll: Add busy poll support to epoll with socket
fds.") added the first lockless ep_events_available(), and commit
c5a282e9635e ("fs/epoll: reduce the scope of wq lock in epoll_wait()")
made some ep_events_available() calls lockless and added single call under
a lock, finally commit e59d3c64cba6 ("epoll: eliminate unnecessary lock
for zero timeout") made the last ep_events_available() lockless.

BUG: KCSAN: data-race in do_epoll_wait / do_epoll_wait

write to 0xffff88810480c7d8 of 8 bytes by task 1802 on cpu 0:
 INIT_LIST_HEAD include/linux/list.h:38 [inline]
 list_splice_init include/linux/list.h:492 [inline]
 ep_start_scan fs/eventpoll.c:622 [inline]
 ep_send_events fs/eventpoll.c:1656 [inline]
 ep_poll fs/eventpoll.c:1806 [inline]
 do_epoll_wait+0x4eb/0xf40 fs/eventpoll.c:2234
 do_epoll_pwait fs/eventpoll.c:2268 [inline]
 __do_sys_epoll_pwait fs/eventpoll.c:2281 [inline]
 __se_sys_epoll_pwait+0x12b/0x240 fs/eventpoll.c:2275
 __x64_sys_epoll_pwait+0x74/0x80 fs/eventpoll.c:2275
 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline]
 do_syscall_64+0x44/0xd0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80
 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae

read to 0xffff88810480c7d8 of 8 bytes by task 1799 on cpu 1:
 list_empty_careful include/linux/list.h:329 [inline]
 ep_events_available fs/eventpoll.c:381 [inline]
 ep_poll fs/eventpoll.c:1797 [inline]
 do_epoll_wait+0x279/0xf40 fs/eventpoll.c:2234
 do_epoll_pwait fs/eventpoll.c:2268 [inline]
 __do_sys_epoll_pwait fs/eventpoll.c:2281 [inline]
 __se_sys_epoll_pwait+0x12b/0x240 fs/eventpoll.c:2275
 __x64_sys_epoll_pwait+0x74/0x80 fs/eventpoll.c:2275
 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline]
 do_syscall_64+0x44/0xd0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80
 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae

value changed: 0xffff88810480c7d0 -> 0xffff888103c15098

Reported by Kernel Concurrency Sanitizer on:
CPU: 1 PID: 1799 Comm: syz-fuzzer Tainted: G        W         5.17.0-rc7-syzkaller-dirty #0
Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 01/01/2011

Weakness: CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49443?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49443?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49443 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49443 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-2022-49443 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49443 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-2022-49443 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-2022-49443/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49443/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49443
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49443
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49443

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49443/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.