# CVE-2022-49568: KVM: Don't null dereference ops->destroy

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel's KVM subsystem allows local attackers to cause a denial of service via improper device cleanup handling.

- **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-2022-49568, GHSA-vpqc-5phg-hjvg, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49568

## What is CVE-2022-49568?

CVE-2022-49568 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:

KVM: Don't null dereference ops->destroy

A KVM device cleanup happens in either of two callbacks:
1) destroy() which is called when the VM is being destroyed;
2) release() which is called when a device fd is closed.

Most KVM devices use 1) but Book3s's interrupt controller KVM devices
(XICS, XIVE, XIVE-native) use 2) as they need to close and reopen during
the machine execution. The error handling in kvm_ioctl_create_device()
assumes destroy() is always defined which leads to NULL dereference as
discovered by Syzkaller.

This adds a checks for destroy!=NULL and adds a missing release().

This is not changing kvm_destroy_devices() as devices with defined
release() should have been removed from the KVM devices list by then.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49568?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49568?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49568 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49568 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-2022-49568 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49568 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-2022-49568 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-2022-49568/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49568/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49568
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49568
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49568

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49568/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.