CVE-2022-49796 tracing: kprobe: Fix potential null-ptr-deref on trace_array in kprobe_event_gen_test_exit()

Medium 5.5 Published 1 May 2025 Updated 11 May 2026

A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel's kprobe tracing module can cause a system crash when unloading the test module.

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

What is CVE-2022-49796?

CVE-2022-49796 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:

tracing: kprobe: Fix potential null-ptr-deref on trace_array in kprobe_event_gen_test_exit()

When test_gen_kprobe_cmd() failed after kprobe_event_gen_cmd_end(), it will goto delete, which will call kprobe_event_delete() and release the corresponding resource. However, the trace_array in gen_kretprobe_test will point to the invalid resource. Set gen_kretprobe_test to NULL after called kprobe_event_delete() to prevent null-ptr-deref.

BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000070 PGD 0 P4D 0 Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP PTI CPU: 0 PID: 246 Comm: modprobe Tainted: G W 6.1.0-rc1-00174-g9522dc5c87da-dirty #248 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.15.0-0-g2dd4b9b3f840-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:__ftrace_set_clr_event_nolock+0x53/0x1b0 Code: e8 82 26 fc ff 49 8b 1e c7 44 24 0c ea ff ff ff 49 39 de 0f 84 3c 01 00 00 c7 44 24 18 00 00 00 00 e8 61 26 fc ff 48 8b 6b 10 <44> 8b 65 70 4c 8b 6d 18 41 f7 c4 00 02 00 00 75 2f RSP: 0018:ffffc9000159fe00 EFLAGS: 00010293 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff88810971d268 RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: ffff8881080be600 RSI: ffffffff811b48ff RDI: ffff88810971d058 RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000001 R10: ffffc9000159fe58 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: ffffffffa0001064 R13: ffffffffa000106c R14: ffff88810971d238 R15: 0000000000000000 FS: 00007f89eeff6540(0000) GS:ffff88813b600000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000000000000070 CR3: 000000010599e004 CR4: 0000000000330ef0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: <TASK> __ftrace_set_clr_event+0x3e/0x60 trace_array_set_clr_event+0x35/0x50 ? 0xffffffffa0000000 kprobe_event_gen_test_exit+0xcd/0x10b [kprobe_event_gen_test] __x64_sys_delete_module+0x206/0x380 ? lockdep_hardirqs_on_prepare+0xd8/0x190 ? syscall_enter_from_user_mode+0x1c/0x50 do_syscall_64+0x3f/0x90 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd RIP: 0033:0x7f89eeb061b7

Weakness: CWE-476

Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49796?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2022-49796?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Is CVE-2022-49796 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49796 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49796, GHSA-988r-r585-2mrv, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49796.