# CVE-2022-50206: arm64: fix oops in concurrently setting insn_emulation sysctls

> A race condition in the Linux kernel arm64 emulation sysctl handler causes a null pointer dereference, leading to a system crash.

- **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:** 15 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50206, GHSA-qgp7-v6fq-jxvw, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50206

## What is CVE-2022-50206?

CVE-2022-50206 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:

arm64: fix oops in concurrently setting insn_emulation sysctls

emulation_proc_handler() changes table->data for proc_dointvec_minmax
and can generate the following Oops if called concurrently with itself:

 | Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000010
 | Internal error: Oops: 96000006 [#1] SMP
 | Call trace:
 | update_insn_emulation_mode+0xc0/0x148
 | emulation_proc_handler+0x64/0xb8
 | proc_sys_call_handler+0x9c/0xf8
 | proc_sys_write+0x18/0x20
 | __vfs_write+0x20/0x48
 | vfs_write+0xe4/0x1d0
 | ksys_write+0x70/0xf8
 | __arm64_sys_write+0x20/0x28
 | el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0x7c/0x1c0
 | el0_svc_handler+0x2c/0xa0
 | el0_svc+0x8/0x200

To fix this issue, keep the table->data as &insn->current_mode and
use container_of() to retrieve the insn pointer. Another mutex is
used to protect against the current_mode update but not for retrieving
insn_emulation as table->data is no longer changing.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50206?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-50206?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-50206 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50206 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-2022-50206 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-50206 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-2022-50206 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-2022-50206/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50206/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-50206
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-50206
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-50206

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50206/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.