# CVE-2022-49932: KVM: VMX: Do _all_ initialization before exposing /dev/kvm to userspace

> A race condition in Linux KVM initialization allows local users to trigger a kernel NULL pointer dereference and crash the system.

- **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:** 2 May 2025
- **Updated:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-70117, DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49932, GHSA-gfj7-8hq4-g63x, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2022-49932, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2022-49932, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49932

## What is CVE-2022-49932?

CVE-2022-49932 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 2 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: VMX: Do _all_ initialization before exposing /dev/kvm to userspace

Call kvm_init() only after _all_ setup is complete, as kvm_init() exposes
/dev/kvm to userspace and thus allows userspace to create VMs (and call
other ioctls).  E.g. KVM will encounter a NULL pointer when attempting to
add a vCPU to the per-CPU loaded_vmcss_on_cpu list if userspace is able to
create a VM before vmx_init() configures said list.

 BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000008
 #PF: supervisor write access in kernel mode
 #PF: error_code(0x0002) - not-present page
 PGD 0 P4D 0
 Oops: 0002 [#1] SMP
 CPU: 6 PID: 1143 Comm: stable Not tainted 6.0.0-rc7+ #988
 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 0.0.0 02/06/2015
 RIP: 0010:vmx_vcpu_load_vmcs+0x68/0x230 [kvm_intel]
  <TASK>
  vmx_vcpu_load+0x16/0x60 [kvm_intel]
  kvm_arch_vcpu_load+0x32/0x1f0 [kvm]
  vcpu_load+0x2f/0x40 [kvm]
  kvm_arch_vcpu_create+0x231/0x310 [kvm]
  kvm_vm_ioctl+0x79f/0xe10 [kvm]
  ? handle_mm_fault+0xb1/0x220
  __x64_sys_ioctl+0x80/0xb0
  do_syscall_64+0x2b/0x50
  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0
 RIP: 0033:0x7f5a6b05743b
  </TASK>
 Modules linked in: vhost_net vhost vhost_iotlb tap kvm_intel(+) kvm irqbypass

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49932?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49932?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49932 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49932 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-2022-49932 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49932 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 2 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-2022-49932 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-2022-49932/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49932/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49932
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49932
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49932

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49932/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.