# CVE-2022-49496: media: mediatek: vcodec: prevent kernel crash when rmmod mtk-vcodec-dec.ko

> A null pointer dereference in the MediaTek video codec driver causes a kernel crash when removing the module, 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:** 15 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49496, GHSA-p4v4-q7w4-pw4w, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2022-49496, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2022-49496, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49496

## What is CVE-2022-49496?

CVE-2022-49496 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:

media: mediatek: vcodec: prevent kernel crash when rmmod mtk-vcodec-dec.ko

If the driver support subdev mode, the parameter "dev->pm.dev" will be
NULL in mtk_vcodec_dec_remove. Kernel will crash when try to rmmod
mtk-vcodec-dec.ko.

[ 4380.702726] pc : do_raw_spin_trylock+0x4/0x80
[ 4380.707075] lr : _raw_spin_lock_irq+0x90/0x14c
[ 4380.711509] sp : ffff80000819bc10
[ 4380.714811] x29: ffff80000819bc10 x28: ffff3600c03e4000 x27: 0000000000000000
[ 4380.721934] x26: 0000000000000000 x25: 0000000000000000 x24: 0000000000000000
[ 4380.729057] x23: ffff3600c0f34930 x22: ffffd5e923549000 x21: 0000000000000220
[ 4380.736179] x20: 0000000000000208 x19: ffffd5e9213e8ebc x18: 0000000000000020
[ 4380.743298] x17: 0000002000000000 x16: ffffd5e9213e8e90 x15: 696c346f65646976
[ 4380.750420] x14: 0000000000000000 x13: 0000000000000001 x12: 0000000000000040
[ 4380.757542] x11: 0000000000000000 x10: 0000000000000000 x9 : 0000000000000000
[ 4380.764664] x8 : 0000000000000000 x7 : ffff3600c7273ae8 x6 : ffffd5e9213e8ebc
[ 4380.771786] x5 : 0000000000000000 x4 : 0000000000000001 x3 : 0000000000000000
[ 4380.778908] x2 : 0000000000000000 x1 : ffff3600c03e4000 x0 : 0000000000000208
[ 4380.786031] Call trace:
[ 4380.788465]  do_raw_spin_trylock+0x4/0x80
[ 4380.792462]  __pm_runtime_disable+0x2c/0x1b0
[ 4380.796723]  mtk_vcodec_dec_remove+0x5c/0xa0 [mtk_vcodec_dec]
[ 4380.802466]  platform_remove+0x2c/0x60
[ 4380.806204]  __device_release_driver+0x194/0x250
[ 4380.810810]  driver_detach+0xc8/0x15c
[ 4380.814462]  bus_remove_driver+0x5c/0xb0
[ 4380.818375]  driver_unregister+0x34/0x64
[ 4380.822288]  platform_driver_unregister+0x18/0x24
[ 4380.826979]  mtk_vcodec_dec_driver_exit+0x1c/0x888 [mtk_vcodec_dec]
[ 4380.833240]  __arm64_sys_delete_module+0x190/0x224
[ 4380.838020]  invoke_syscall+0x48/0x114
[ 4380.841760]  el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0x60/0x11c
[ 4380.846540]  do_el0_svc+0x28/0x90
[ 4380.849844]  el0_svc+0x4c/0x100
[ 4380.852975]  el0t_64_sync_handler+0xec/0xf0
[ 4380.857148]  el0t_64_sync+0x190/0x194
[ 4380.860801] Code: 94431515 17ffffca d503201f d503245f (b9400004)

Weakness: CWE-667 (Improper Locking)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49496?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49496?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49496 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49496 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-2022-49496 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49496 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-2022-49496 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-2022-49496/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49496/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49496
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49496
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49496

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49496/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.