CVE-2022-49882 KVM: Reject attempts to consume or refresh inactive gfn_to_pfn_cache
A race condition in KVM's gfn_to_pfn_cache handling allows attackers to trigger use-after-free bugs, potentially leading to code execution or privilege escalation.
- 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-2022-49882?
CVE-2022-49882 is a high-severity use after free 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:
KVM: Reject attempts to consume or refresh inactive gfn_to_pfn_cache
Reject kvm_gpc_check() and kvm_gpc_refresh() if the cache is inactive. Not checking the active flag during refresh is particularly egregious, as KVM can end up with a valid, inactive cache, which can lead to a variety of use-after-free bugs, e.g. consuming a NULL kernel pointer or missing an mmu_notifier invalidation due to the cache not being on the list of gfns to invalidate.
Note, "active" needs to be set if and only if the cache is on the list of caches, i.e. is reachable via mmu_notifier events. If a relevant mmu_notifier event occurs while the cache is "active" but not on the list, KVM will not acquire the cache's lock and so will not serailize the mmu_notifier event with active users and/or kvm_gpc_refresh().
A race between KVM_XEN_ATTR_TYPE_SHARED_INFO and KVM_XEN_HVM_EVTCHN_SEND can be exploited to trigger the bug.
1. Deactivate shinfo cache:
kvm_xen_hvm_set_attr case KVM_XEN_ATTR_TYPE_SHARED_INFO kvm_gpc_deactivate kvm_gpc_unmap gpc->valid = false gpc->khva = NULL gpc->active = false
Result: active = false, valid = false
2. Cause cache refresh:
kvm_arch_vm_ioctl case KVM_XEN_HVM_EVTCHN_SEND kvm_xen_hvm_evtchn_send kvm_xen_set_evtchn kvm_xen_set_evtchn_fast kvm_gpc_check return -EWOULDBLOCK because !gpc->valid kvm_xen_set_evtchn_fast return -EWOULDBLOCK kvm_gpc_refresh hva_to_pfn_retry gpc->valid = true gpc->khva = not NULL
Result: active = false, valid = true
3. Race ioctl KVM_XEN_HVM_EVTCHN_SEND against ioctl KVM_XEN_ATTR_TYPE_SHARED_INFO:
kvm_arch_vm_ioctl case KVM_XEN_HVM_EVTCHN_SEND kvm_xen_hvm_evtchn_send kvm_xen_set_evtchn kvm_xen_set_evtchn_fast read_lock gpc->lock kvm_xen_hvm_set_attr case KVM_XEN_ATTR_TYPE_SHARED_INFO mutex_lock kvm->lock kvm_xen_shared_info_init kvm_gpc_activate gpc->khva = NULL kvm_gpc_check [ Check passes because gpc->valid is still true, even though gpc->khva is already NULL. ] shinfo = gpc->khva pending_bits = shinfo->evtchn_pending CRASH: test_and_set_bit(..., pending_bits)
Weakness: CWE-416
Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49882?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2022-49882?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.
Is CVE-2022-49882 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49882 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49882, GHSA-crgv-wqmc-m2wr, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49882.