# CVE-2022-49559: KVM: x86: Drop WARNs that assert a triple fault never "escapes" from L2

> A flaw in Linux kernel KVM allows triggering a kernel warning via specific userspace actions, potentially leading to a 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:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49559, GHSA-f5xc-j8gh-p7j4, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49559

## What is CVE-2022-49559?

CVE-2022-49559 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:

KVM: x86: Drop WARNs that assert a triple fault never "escapes" from L2

Remove WARNs that sanity check that KVM never lets a triple fault for L2
escape and incorrectly end up in L1.  In normal operation, the sanity
check is perfectly valid, but it incorrectly assumes that it's impossible
for userspace to induce KVM_REQ_TRIPLE_FAULT without bouncing through
KVM_RUN (which guarantees kvm_check_nested_state() will see and handle
the triple fault).

The WARN can currently be triggered if userspace injects a machine check
while L2 is active and CR4.MCE=0.  And a future fix to allow save/restore
of KVM_REQ_TRIPLE_FAULT, e.g. so that a synthesized triple fault isn't
lost on migration, will make it trivially easy for userspace to trigger
the WARN.

Clearing KVM_REQ_TRIPLE_FAULT when forcibly leaving guest mode is
tempting, but wrong, especially if/when the request is saved/restored,
e.g. if userspace restores events (including a triple fault) and then
restores nested state (which may forcibly leave guest mode).  Ignoring
the fact that KVM doesn't currently provide the necessary APIs, it's
userspace's responsibility to manage pending events during save/restore.

  ------------[ cut here ]------------
  WARNING: CPU: 7 PID: 1399 at arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.c:4522 nested_vmx_vmexit+0x7fe/0xd90 [kvm_intel]
  Modules linked in: kvm_intel kvm irqbypass
  CPU: 7 PID: 1399 Comm: state_test Not tainted 5.17.0-rc3+ #808
  Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 0.0.0 02/06/2015
  RIP: 0010:nested_vmx_vmexit+0x7fe/0xd90 [kvm_intel]
  Call Trace:
   <TASK>
   vmx_leave_nested+0x30/0x40 [kvm_intel]
   vmx_set_nested_state+0xca/0x3e0 [kvm_intel]
   kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl+0xf49/0x13e0 [kvm]
   kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x4b9/0x660 [kvm]
   __x64_sys_ioctl+0x83/0xb0
   do_syscall_64+0x3b/0xc0
   entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae
   </TASK>
  ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49559?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49559?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49559 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49559 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-2022-49559 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49559 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-2022-49559 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-2022-49559/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49559/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49559
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49559
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49559

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49559/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.