# CVE-2022-49605: igc: Reinstate IGC_REMOVED logic and implement it properly

> A missing check in the igc network driver causes a null pointer dereference after PCIe errors, leading to a kernel crash.

- **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-2022-49605, GHSA-6hqq-r498-2prh, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49605

## What is CVE-2022-49605?

CVE-2022-49605 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:

igc: Reinstate IGC_REMOVED logic and implement it properly

The initially merged version of the igc driver code (via commit
146740f9abc4, "igc: Add support for PF") contained the following
IGC_REMOVED checks in the igc_rd32/wr32() MMIO accessors:

	u32 igc_rd32(struct igc_hw *hw, u32 reg)
	{
		u8 __iomem *hw_addr = READ_ONCE(hw->hw_addr);
		u32 value = 0;

		if (IGC_REMOVED(hw_addr))
			return ~value;

		value = readl(&hw_addr[reg]);

		/* reads should not return all F's */
		if (!(~value) && (!reg || !(~readl(hw_addr))))
			hw->hw_addr = NULL;

		return value;
	}

And:

	#define wr32(reg, val) \
	do { \
		u8 __iomem *hw_addr = READ_ONCE((hw)->hw_addr); \
		if (!IGC_REMOVED(hw_addr)) \
			writel((val), &hw_addr[(reg)]); \
	} while (0)

E.g. igb has similar checks in its MMIO accessors, and has a similar
macro E1000_REMOVED, which is implemented as follows:

	#define E1000_REMOVED(h) unlikely(!(h))

These checks serve to detect and take note of an 0xffffffff MMIO read
return from the device, which can be caused by a PCIe link flap or some
other kind of PCI bus error, and to avoid performing MMIO reads and
writes from that point onwards.

However, the IGC_REMOVED macro was not originally implemented:

	#ifndef IGC_REMOVED
	#define IGC_REMOVED(a) (0)
	#endif /* IGC_REMOVED */

This led to the IGC_REMOVED logic to be removed entirely in a
subsequent commit (commit 3c215fb18e70, "igc: remove IGC_REMOVED
function"), with the rationale that such checks matter only for
virtualization and that igc does not support virtualization -- but a
PCIe device can become detached even without virtualization being in
use, and without proper checks, a PCIe bus error affecting an igc
adapter will lead to various NULL pointer dereferences, as the first
access after the error will set hw->hw_addr to NULL, and subsequent
accesses will blindly dereference this now-NULL pointer.

This patch reinstates the IGC_REMOVED checks in igc_rd32/wr32(), and
implements IGC_REMOVED the way it is done for igb, by checking for the
unlikely() case of hw_addr being NULL.  This change prevents the oopses
seen when a PCIe link flap occurs on an igc adapter.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49605?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49605?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49605 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49605 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-2022-49605 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49605 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-2022-49605 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-2022-49605/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49605/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49605
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49605
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49605

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49605/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.