# CVE-2022-50054: iavf: Fix NULL pointer dereference in iavf_get_link_ksettings

> A NULL pointer dereference in the iavf network driver allows local attackers to cause a kernel crash and denial of service.

- **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:** 18 Jun 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50054, GHSA-rwgf-fgff-g4x4, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50054

## What is CVE-2022-50054?

CVE-2022-50054 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 Jun 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:

iavf: Fix NULL pointer dereference in iavf_get_link_ksettings

Fix possible NULL pointer dereference, due to freeing of adapter->vf_res
in iavf_init_get_resources. Previous commit introduced a regression,
where receiving IAVF_ERR_ADMIN_QUEUE_NO_WORK from iavf_get_vf_config
would free adapter->vf_res. However, netdev is still registered, so
ethtool_ops can be called. Calling iavf_get_link_ksettings with no vf_res,
will result with:
[ 9385.242676] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000008
[ 9385.242683] #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode
[ 9385.242686] #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page
[ 9385.242690] PGD 0 P4D 0
[ 9385.242696] Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP DEBUG_PAGEALLOC PTI
[ 9385.242701] CPU: 6 PID: 3217 Comm: pmdalinux Kdump: loaded Tainted: G S          E     5.18.0-04958-ga54ce3703613-dirty #1
[ 9385.242708] Hardware name: Dell Inc. PowerEdge R730/0WCJNT, BIOS 2.11.0 11/02/2019
[ 9385.242710] RIP: 0010:iavf_get_link_ksettings+0x29/0xd0 [iavf]
[ 9385.242745] Code: 00 0f 1f 44 00 00 b8 01 ef ff ff 48 c7 46 30 00 00 00 00 48 c7 46 38 00 00 00 00 c6 46 0b 00 66 89 46 08 48 8b 87 68 0e 00 00 <f6> 40 08 80 75 50 8b 87 5c 0e 00 00 83 f8 08 74 7a 76 1d 83 f8 20
[ 9385.242749] RSP: 0018:ffffc0560ec7fbd0 EFLAGS: 00010246
[ 9385.242755] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffffc0560ec7fc08 RCX: 0000000000000000
[ 9385.242759] RDX: ffffffffc0ad4550 RSI: ffffc0560ec7fc08 RDI: ffffa0fc66674000
[ 9385.242762] RBP: 00007ffd1fb2bf50 R08: b6a2d54b892363ee R09: ffffa101dc14fb00
[ 9385.242765] R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000004 R12: ffffa0fc66674000
[ 9385.242768] R13: 0000000000000000 R14: ffffa0fc66674000 R15: 00000000ffffffa1
[ 9385.242771] FS:  00007f93711a2980(0000) GS:ffffa0fad72c0000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
[ 9385.242775] CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
[ 9385.242778] CR2: 0000000000000008 CR3: 0000000a8e61c003 CR4: 00000000003706e0
[ 9385.242781] DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000
[ 9385.242784] DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400
[ 9385.242787] Call Trace:
[ 9385.242791]  <TASK>
[ 9385.242793]  ethtool_get_settings+0x71/0x1a0
[ 9385.242814]  __dev_ethtool+0x426/0x2f40
[ 9385.242823]  ? slab_post_alloc_hook+0x4f/0x280
[ 9385.242836]  ? kmem_cache_alloc_trace+0x15d/0x2f0
[ 9385.242841]  ? dev_ethtool+0x59/0x170
[ 9385.242848]  dev_ethtool+0xa7/0x170
[ 9385.242856]  dev_ioctl+0xc3/0x520
[ 9385.242866]  sock_do_ioctl+0xa0/0xe0
[ 9385.242877]  sock_ioctl+0x22f/0x320
[ 9385.242885]  __x64_sys_ioctl+0x84/0xc0
[ 9385.242896]  do_syscall_64+0x3a/0x80
[ 9385.242904]  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0
[ 9385.242918] RIP: 0033:0x7f93702396db
[ 9385.242923] Code: 73 01 c3 48 8b 0d ad 57 38 00 f7 d8 64 89 01 48 83 c8 ff c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 90 f3 0f 1e fa b8 10 00 00 00 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 8b 0d 7d 57 38 00 f7 d8 64 89 01 48
[ 9385.242927] RSP: 002b:00007ffd1fb2bf18 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000010
[ 9385.242932] RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 000055671b1d2fe0 RCX: 00007f93702396db
[ 9385.242935] RDX: 00007ffd1fb2bf20 RSI: 0000000000008946 RDI: 0000000000000007
[ 9385.242937] RBP: 00007ffd1fb2bf20 R08: 0000000000000003 R09: 0030763066307330
[ 9385.242940] R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 00007ffd1fb2bf80
[ 9385.242942] R13: 0000000000000007 R14: 0000556719f6de90 R15: 00007ffd1fb2c1b0
[ 9385.242948]  </TASK>
[ 9385.242949] Modules linked in: iavf(E) xt_CHECKSUM xt_MASQUERADE xt_conntrack ipt_REJECT nft_compat nf_nat_tftp nft_objref nf_conntrack_tftp bridge stp llc nft_fib_inet nft_fib_ipv4 nft_fib_ipv6 nft_fib nft_reject_inet nf_reject_ipv4 nf_reject_ipv6 nft_reject nft_ct nft_chain_nat nf_nat nf_conntrack nf_defrag_ipv6 nf_defrag_ipv4 ip_set nf_tables rfkill nfnetlink vfat fat irdma ib_uverbs ib_core intel_rapl_msr intel_rapl_common sb_edac x86_pkg_temp_thermal intel_powerclamp coretem
---truncated---

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50054?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-50054?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-50054 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50054 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-2022-50054 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-50054 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 Jun 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-2022-50054 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-2022-50054/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50054/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-50054
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-50054
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-50054

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50054/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.