CVE-2022-49492 nvme-pci: fix a NULL pointer dereference in nvme_alloc_admin_tags

What is CVE-2022-49492?

CVE-2022-49492 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:

nvme-pci: fix a NULL pointer dereference in nvme_alloc_admin_tags

In nvme_alloc_admin_tags, the admin_q can be set to an error (typically -ENOMEM) if the blk_mq_init_queue call fails to set up the queue, which is checked immediately after the call. However, when we return the error message up the stack, to nvme_reset_work the error takes us to nvme_remove_dead_ctrl() nvme_dev_disable() nvme_suspend_queue(&dev->queues[0]).

Here, we only check that the admin_q is non-NULL, rather than not an error or NULL, and begin quiescing a queue that never existed, leading to bad / NULL pointer dereference.

Weakness: CWE-476

Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49492?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2022-49492?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Is CVE-2022-49492 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49492 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

• CVE-2026-53266 Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2013-6282 Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2022-0185 Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2013-2094 Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2026-53362 Linux Kernel Unspecified Exploited High 7.8

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49492, GHSA-9hwv-rwqx-f5cv, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49492.