# CVE-2022-49613: serial: 8250: Fix PM usage_count for console handover

> A bug in the Linux kernel serial driver causes a runtime PM usage count underflow, potentially leading to system instability or 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-2022-49613, GHSA-ffrj-g2q4-vf85, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49613

## What is CVE-2022-49613?

CVE-2022-49613 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:

serial: 8250: Fix PM usage_count for console handover

When console is enabled, univ8250_console_setup() calls
serial8250_console_setup() before .dev is set to uart_port. Therefore,
it will not call pm_runtime_get_sync(). Later, when the actual driver
is going to take over univ8250_console_exit() is called. As .dev is
already set, serial8250_console_exit() makes pm_runtime_put_sync() call
with usage count being zero triggering PM usage count warning
(extra debug for univ8250_console_setup(), univ8250_console_exit(), and
serial8250_register_ports()):

[    0.068987] univ8250_console_setup ttyS0 nodev
[    0.499670] printk: console [ttyS0] enabled
[    0.717955] printk: console [ttyS0] printing thread started
[    1.960163] serial8250_register_ports assigned dev for ttyS0
[    1.976830] printk: console [ttyS0] disabled
[    1.976888] printk: console [ttyS0] printing thread stopped
[    1.977073] univ8250_console_exit ttyS0 usage:0
[    1.977075] serial8250 serial8250: Runtime PM usage count underflow!
[    1.977429] dw-apb-uart.6: ttyS0 at MMIO 0x4010006000 (irq = 33, base_baud = 115200) is a 16550A
[    1.977812] univ8250_console_setup ttyS0 usage:2
[    1.978167] printk: console [ttyS0] printing thread started
[    1.978203] printk: console [ttyS0] enabled

To fix the issue, call pm_runtime_get_sync() in
serial8250_register_ports() as soon as .dev is set for an uart_port
if it has console enabled.

This problem became apparent only recently because 82586a721595 ("PM:
runtime: Avoid device usage count underflows") added the warning
printout. I confirmed this problem also occurs with v5.18 (w/o the
warning printout, obviously).

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49613?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49613?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49613 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49613 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-2022-49613 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49613 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-2022-49613 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-2022-49613/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49613/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49613
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49613
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49613

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49613/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.