# CVE-2022-50073: net: tap: NULL pointer derefence in dev_parse_header_protocol when skb->dev is null

> A NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel tap driver allows local attackers to cause a system crash via crafted network packets.

- **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:** 12 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-70355, DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50073, GHSA-j9xf-8j9q-6cvr, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2022-50073, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2022-50073, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50073

## What is CVE-2022-50073?

CVE-2022-50073 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:

net: tap: NULL pointer derefence in dev_parse_header_protocol when skb->dev is null

Fixes a NULL pointer derefence bug triggered from tap driver.
When tap_get_user calls virtio_net_hdr_to_skb the skb->dev is null
(in tap.c skb->dev is set after the call to virtio_net_hdr_to_skb)
virtio_net_hdr_to_skb calls dev_parse_header_protocol which
needs skb->dev field to be valid.

The line that trigers the bug is in dev_parse_header_protocol
(dev is at offset 0x10 from skb and is stored in RAX register)
  if (!dev->header_ops || !dev->header_ops->parse_protocol)
  22e1:   mov    0x10(%rbx),%rax
  22e5:	  mov    0x230(%rax),%rax

Setting skb->dev before the call in tap.c fixes the issue.

BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000230
RIP: 0010:virtio_net_hdr_to_skb.constprop.0+0x335/0x410 [tap]
Code: c0 0f 85 b7 fd ff ff eb d4 41 39 c6 77 cf 29 c6 48 89 df 44 01 f6 e8 7a 79 83 c1 48 85 c0 0f 85 d9 fd ff ff eb b7 48 8b 43 10 <48> 8b 80 30 02 00 00 48 85 c0 74 55 48 8b 40 28 48 85 c0 74 4c 48
RSP: 0018:ffffc90005c27c38 EFLAGS: 00010246
RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff888298f25300 RCX: 0000000000000010
RDX: 0000000000000005 RSI: ffffc90005c27cb6 RDI: ffff888298f25300
RBP: ffffc90005c27c80 R08: 00000000ffffffea R09: 00000000000007e8
R10: ffff88858ec77458 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: 0000000000000001
R13: 0000000000000014 R14: ffffc90005c27e08 R15: ffffc90005c27cb6
FS:  0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff88858ec40000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
CR2: 0000000000000230 CR3: 0000000281408006 CR4: 00000000003706e0
Call Trace:
 tap_get_user+0x3f1/0x540 [tap]
 tap_sendmsg+0x56/0x362 [tap]
 ? get_tx_bufs+0xc2/0x1e0 [vhost_net]
 handle_tx_copy+0x114/0x670 [vhost_net]
 handle_tx+0xb0/0xe0 [vhost_net]
 handle_tx_kick+0x15/0x20 [vhost_net]
 vhost_worker+0x7b/0xc0 [vhost]
 ? vhost_vring_call_reset+0x40/0x40 [vhost]
 kthread+0xfa/0x120
 ? kthread_complete_and_exit+0x20/0x20
 ret_from_fork+0x1f/0x30

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50073?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-50073?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-50073 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50073 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-2022-50073 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-50073 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-2022-50073 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-2022-50073/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50073/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-50073
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-50073
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-50073

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50073/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.