# CVE-2022-49870: capabilities: fix undefined behavior in bit shift for CAP_TO_MASK

> A signed integer overflow in Linux kernel capabilities handling can cause undefined behavior and potential system crashes.

- **Severity:** High 7.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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-2022-49870, GHSA-fw9v-j9g8-g322, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49870

## What is CVE-2022-49870?

CVE-2022-49870 is a high-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:

capabilities: fix undefined behavior in bit shift for CAP_TO_MASK

Shifting signed 32-bit value by 31 bits is undefined, so changing
significant bit to unsigned. The UBSAN warning calltrace like below:

UBSAN: shift-out-of-bounds in security/commoncap.c:1252:2
left shift of 1 by 31 places cannot be represented in type 'int'
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 dump_stack_lvl+0x7d/0xa5
 dump_stack+0x15/0x1b
 ubsan_epilogue+0xe/0x4e
 __ubsan_handle_shift_out_of_bounds+0x1e7/0x20c
 cap_task_prctl+0x561/0x6f0
 security_task_prctl+0x5a/0xb0
 __x64_sys_prctl+0x61/0x8f0
 do_syscall_64+0x58/0x80
 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd
 </TASK>

Weakness: CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49870?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49870?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49870 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49870 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-2022-49870 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49870 is a high-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-2022-49870 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-2022-49870/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49870/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49870
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49870
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49870

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49870/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.
