# CVE-2022-49771: dm ioctl: fix misbehavior if list_versions races with module loading

> A race condition in the Linux kernel device-mapper ioctl allows attackers to read kernel memory or cause a denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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:** 1 May 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49771, GHSA-qp86-w2fg-h37h, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49771

## What is CVE-2022-49771?

CVE-2022-49771 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 May 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:

dm ioctl: fix misbehavior if list_versions races with module loading

__list_versions will first estimate the required space using the
"dm_target_iterate(list_version_get_needed, &needed)" call and then will
fill the space using the "dm_target_iterate(list_version_get_info,
&iter_info)" call. Each of these calls locks the targets using the
"down_read(&_lock)" and "up_read(&_lock)" calls, however between the first
and second "dm_target_iterate" there is no lock held and the target
modules can be loaded at this point, so the second "dm_target_iterate"
call may need more space than what was the first "dm_target_iterate"
returned.

The code tries to handle this overflow (see the beginning of
list_version_get_info), however this handling is incorrect.

The code sets "param->data_size = param->data_start + needed" and
"iter_info.end = (char *)vers+len" - "needed" is the size returned by the
first dm_target_iterate call; "len" is the size of the buffer allocated by
userspace.

"len" may be greater than "needed"; in this case, the code will write up
to "len" bytes into the buffer, however param->data_size is set to
"needed", so it may write data past the param->data_size value. The ioctl
interface copies only up to param->data_size into userspace, thus part of
the result will be truncated.

Fix this bug by setting "iter_info.end = (char *)vers + needed;" - this
guarantees that the second "dm_target_iterate" call will write only up to
the "needed" buffer and it will exit with "DM_BUFFER_FULL_FLAG" if it
overflows the "needed" space - in this case, userspace will allocate a
larger buffer and retry.

Note that there is also a bug in list_version_get_needed - we need to add
"strlen(tt->name) + 1" to the needed size, not "strlen(tt->name)".

Weakness: CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49771?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49771?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49771 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49771 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-2022-49771 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49771 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 May 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-2022-49771 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-2022-49771/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49771/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49771
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49771
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49771

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49771/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.