# CVE-2022-49691: erspan: do not assume transport header is always set

> A missing check in the Linux kernel's ERSPAN tunnel code can cause a null pointer dereference, leading to a system 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-2022-49691, GHSA-5pm6-g356-x3wx, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49691

## What is CVE-2022-49691?

CVE-2022-49691 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:

erspan: do not assume transport header is always set

Rewrite tests in ip6erspan_tunnel_xmit() and
erspan_fb_xmit() to not assume transport header is set.

syzbot reported:

WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 1350 at include/linux/skbuff.h:2911 skb_transport_header include/linux/skbuff.h:2911 [inline]
WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 1350 at include/linux/skbuff.h:2911 ip6erspan_tunnel_xmit+0x15af/0x2eb0 net/ipv6/ip6_gre.c:963
Modules linked in:
CPU: 0 PID: 1350 Comm: aoe_tx0 Not tainted 5.19.0-rc2-syzkaller-00160-g274295c6e53f #0
Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.14.0-2 04/01/2014
RIP: 0010:skb_transport_header include/linux/skbuff.h:2911 [inline]
RIP: 0010:ip6erspan_tunnel_xmit+0x15af/0x2eb0 net/ipv6/ip6_gre.c:963
Code: 0f 47 f0 40 88 b5 7f fe ff ff e8 8c 16 4b f9 89 de bf ff ff ff ff e8 a0 12 4b f9 66 83 fb ff 0f 85 1d f1 ff ff e8 71 16 4b f9 <0f> 0b e9 43 f0 ff ff e8 65 16 4b f9 48 8d 85 30 ff ff ff ba 60 00
RSP: 0018:ffffc90005daf910 EFLAGS: 00010293
RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 000000000000ffff RCX: 0000000000000000
RDX: ffff88801f032100 RSI: ffffffff882e8d3f RDI: 0000000000000003
RBP: ffffc90005dafab8 R08: 0000000000000003 R09: 000000000000ffff
R10: 000000000000ffff R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffff888024f21d40
R13: 000000000000a288 R14: 00000000000000b0 R15: ffff888025a2e000
FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff88802c800000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
CR2: 0000001b2e425000 CR3: 000000006d099000 CR4: 0000000000152ef0
Call Trace:
<TASK>
__netdev_start_xmit include/linux/netdevice.h:4805 [inline]
netdev_start_xmit include/linux/netdevice.h:4819 [inline]
xmit_one net/core/dev.c:3588 [inline]
dev_hard_start_xmit+0x188/0x880 net/core/dev.c:3604
sch_direct_xmit+0x19f/0xbe0 net/sched/sch_generic.c:342
__dev_xmit_skb net/core/dev.c:3815 [inline]
__dev_queue_xmit+0x14a1/0x3900 net/core/dev.c:4219
dev_queue_xmit include/linux/netdevice.h:2994 [inline]
tx+0x6a/0xc0 drivers/block/aoe/aoenet.c:63
kthread+0x1e7/0x3b0 drivers/block/aoe/aoecmd.c:1229
kthread+0x2e9/0x3a0 kernel/kthread.c:376
ret_from_fork+0x1f/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:302
</TASK>

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49691?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49691?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49691 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49691 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-2022-49691 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49691 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-2022-49691 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-2022-49691/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49691/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49691
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49691
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49691

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49691/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.