# CVE-2022-50334: hugetlbfs: fix null-ptr-deref in hugetlbfs_parse_param()

> A local attacker can trigger a kernel crash by mounting hugetlbfs with a malformed parameter, causing a 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:** 15 Sep 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50334, GHSA-8wrh-ch6p-2682, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50334

## What is CVE-2022-50334?

CVE-2022-50334 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:

hugetlbfs: fix null-ptr-deref in hugetlbfs_parse_param()

Syzkaller reports a null-ptr-deref bug as follows:
======================================================
KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000000-0x0000000000000007]
RIP: 0010:hugetlbfs_parse_param+0x1dd/0x8e0 fs/hugetlbfs/inode.c:1380
[...]
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 vfs_parse_fs_param fs/fs_context.c:148 [inline]
 vfs_parse_fs_param+0x1f9/0x3c0 fs/fs_context.c:129
 vfs_parse_fs_string+0xdb/0x170 fs/fs_context.c:191
 generic_parse_monolithic+0x16f/0x1f0 fs/fs_context.c:231
 do_new_mount fs/namespace.c:3036 [inline]
 path_mount+0x12de/0x1e20 fs/namespace.c:3370
 do_mount fs/namespace.c:3383 [inline]
 __do_sys_mount fs/namespace.c:3591 [inline]
 __se_sys_mount fs/namespace.c:3568 [inline]
 __x64_sys_mount+0x27f/0x300 fs/namespace.c:3568
 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline]
 do_syscall_64+0x35/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80
 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd
 [...]
 </TASK>
======================================================

According to commit "vfs: parse: deal with zero length string value",
kernel will set the param->string to null pointer in vfs_parse_fs_string()
if fs string has zero length.

Yet the problem is that, hugetlbfs_parse_param() will dereference the
param->string, without checking whether it is a null pointer.  To be more
specific, if hugetlbfs_parse_param() parses an illegal mount parameter,
such as "size=,", kernel will constructs struct fs_parameter with null
pointer in vfs_parse_fs_string(), then passes this struct fs_parameter to
hugetlbfs_parse_param(), which triggers the above null-ptr-deref bug.

This patch solves it by adding sanity check on param->string
in hugetlbfs_parse_param().

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50334?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-50334?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-50334 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50334 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-2022-50334 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-50334 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50334 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-2022-50334/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50334/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-50334
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-50334
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-50334

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50334/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.