CVE-2022-50295 io_uring/msg_ring: Fix NULL pointer dereference in io_msg_send_fd()
A local attacker can trigger a kernel crash via a NULL pointer dereference in the io_uring subsystem, causing a denial of service.
- 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-2022-50295?
CVE-2022-50295 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 15 Sep 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:
io_uring/msg_ring: Fix NULL pointer dereference in io_msg_send_fd()
Syzkaller produced the below call trace:
BUG: KASAN: null-ptr-deref in io_msg_ring+0x3cb/0x9f0 Write of size 8 at addr 0000000000000070 by task repro/16399
CPU: 0 PID: 16399 Comm: repro Not tainted 6.1.0-rc1 #28 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.11.0-2.el7 Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0xcd/0x134 ? io_msg_ring+0x3cb/0x9f0 kasan_report+0xbc/0xf0 ? io_msg_ring+0x3cb/0x9f0 kasan_check_range+0x140/0x190 io_msg_ring+0x3cb/0x9f0 ? io_msg_ring_prep+0x300/0x300 io_issue_sqe+0x698/0xca0 io_submit_sqes+0x92f/0x1c30 __do_sys_io_uring_enter+0xae4/0x24b0 .... RIP: 0033:0x7f2eaf8f8289 RSP: 002b:00007fff40939718 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 00000000000001aa RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: 00007f2eaf8f8289 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000006f71 RDI: 0000000000000004 RBP: 00007fff409397a0 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000039 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 00000000004006d0 R13: 00007fff40939880 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 0000000000000000 </TASK> Kernel panic - not syncing: panic_on_warn set ...
We don't have a NULL check on file_ptr in io_msg_send_fd() function, so when file_ptr is NUL src_file is also NULL and get_file() dereferences a NULL pointer and leads to above crash.
Add a NULL check to fix this issue.
Weakness: CWE-476
Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50295?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2022-50295?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2022-50295 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50295 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50295, GHSA-pwv6-q4qx-8vf8, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50295.