# CVE-2022-49526: md/bitmap: don't set sb values if can't pass sanity check

> A local attacker with disk access can crash the Linux kernel by corrupting bitmap metadata in a clustered MD array, causing a divide-by-zero error.

- **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-2022-49526, GHSA-w5j3-2fj8-5x8c, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49526

## What is CVE-2022-49526?

CVE-2022-49526 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:

md/bitmap: don't set sb values if can't pass sanity check

If bitmap area contains invalid data, kernel will crash then mdadm
triggers "Segmentation fault".
This is cluster-md speical bug. In non-clustered env, mdadm will
handle broken metadata case. In clustered array, only kernel space
handles bitmap slot info. But even this bug only happened in clustered
env, current sanity check is wrong, the code should be changed.

How to trigger: (faulty injection)

dd if=/dev/zero bs=1M count=1 oflag=direct of=/dev/sda
dd if=/dev/zero bs=1M count=1 oflag=direct of=/dev/sdb
mdadm -C /dev/md0 -b clustered -e 1.2 -n 2 -l mirror /dev/sda /dev/sdb
mdadm -Ss
echo aaa > magic.txt
 == below modifying slot 2 bitmap data ==
dd if=magic.txt of=/dev/sda seek=16384 bs=1 count=3 <== destroy magic
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda seek=16436 bs=1 count=4 <== ZERO chunksize
mdadm -A /dev/md0 /dev/sda /dev/sdb
 == kernel crashes. mdadm outputs "Segmentation fault" ==

Reason of kernel crash:

In md_bitmap_read_sb (called by md_bitmap_create), bad bitmap magic didn't
block chunksize assignment, and zero value made DIV_ROUND_UP_SECTOR_T()
trigger "divide error".

Crash log:

kernel: md: md0 stopped.
kernel: md/raid1:md0: not clean -- starting background reconstruction
kernel: md/raid1:md0: active with 2 out of 2 mirrors
kernel: dlm: ... ...
kernel: md-cluster: Joined cluster 44810aba-38bb-e6b8-daca-bc97a0b254aa slot 1
kernel: md0: invalid bitmap file superblock: bad magic
kernel: md_bitmap_copy_from_slot can't get bitmap from slot 2
kernel: md-cluster: Could not gather bitmaps from slot 2
kernel: divide error: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI
kernel: CPU: 0 PID: 1603 Comm: mdadm Not tainted 5.14.6-1-default
kernel: Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996)
kernel: RIP: 0010:md_bitmap_create+0x1d1/0x850 [md_mod]
kernel: RSP: 0018:ffffc22ac0843ba0 EFLAGS: 00010246
kernel: ... ...
kernel: Call Trace:
kernel:  ? dlm_lock_sync+0xd0/0xd0 [md_cluster 77fe..7a0]
kernel:  md_bitmap_copy_from_slot+0x2c/0x290 [md_mod 24ea..d3a]
kernel:  load_bitmaps+0xec/0x210 [md_cluster 77fe..7a0]
kernel:  md_bitmap_load+0x81/0x1e0 [md_mod 24ea..d3a]
kernel:  do_md_run+0x30/0x100 [md_mod 24ea..d3a]
kernel:  md_ioctl+0x1290/0x15a0 [md_mod 24ea....d3a]
kernel:  ? mddev_unlock+0xaa/0x130 [md_mod 24ea..d3a]
kernel:  ? blkdev_ioctl+0xb1/0x2b0
kernel:  block_ioctl+0x3b/0x40
kernel:  __x64_sys_ioctl+0x7f/0xb0
kernel:  do_syscall_64+0x59/0x80
kernel:  ? exit_to_user_mode_prepare+0x1ab/0x230
kernel:  ? syscall_exit_to_user_mode+0x18/0x40
kernel:  ? do_syscall_64+0x69/0x80
kernel:  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae
kernel: RIP: 0033:0x7f4a15fa722b
kernel: ... ...
kernel: ---[ end trace 8afa7612f559c868 ]---
kernel: RIP: 0010:md_bitmap_create+0x1d1/0x850 [md_mod]

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49526?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49526?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49526 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49526 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-2022-49526 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49526 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-2022-49526 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-2022-49526/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49526/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49526
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49526
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49526

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49526/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.