# CVE-2022-50388: nvme: fix multipath crash caused by flush request when blktrace is enabled

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel NVMe driver causes a system crash when blktrace is enabled during multipath flush requests.

- **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 Sep 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50388, GHSA-m224-9cff-885m, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50388

## What is CVE-2022-50388?

CVE-2022-50388 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 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:

nvme: fix multipath crash caused by flush request when blktrace is enabled

The flush request initialized by blk_kick_flush has NULL bio,
and it may be dealt with nvme_end_req during io completion.
When blktrace is enabled, nvme_trace_bio_complete with multipath
activated trying to access NULL pointer bio from flush request
results in the following crash:

[ 2517.831677] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 000000000000001a
[ 2517.835213] #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode
[ 2517.838724] #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page
[ 2517.842222] PGD 7b2d51067 P4D 0
[ 2517.845684] Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI
[ 2517.849125] CPU: 2 PID: 732 Comm: kworker/2:1H Kdump: loaded Tainted: G S                5.15.67-0.cl9.x86_64 #1
[ 2517.852723] Hardware name: XFUSION 2288H V6/BC13MBSBC, BIOS 1.13 07/27/2022
[ 2517.856358] Workqueue: nvme_tcp_wq nvme_tcp_io_work [nvme_tcp]
[ 2517.859993] RIP: 0010:blk_add_trace_bio_complete+0x6/0x30
[ 2517.863628] Code: 1f 44 00 00 48 8b 46 08 31 c9 ba 04 00 10 00 48 8b 80 50 03 00 00 48 8b 78 50 e9 e5 fe ff ff 0f 1f 44 00 00 41 54 49 89 f4 55 <0f> b6 7a 1a 48 89 d5 e8 3e 1c 2b 00 48 89 ee 4c 89 e7 5d 89 c1 ba
[ 2517.871269] RSP: 0018:ff7f6a008d9dbcd0 EFLAGS: 00010286
[ 2517.875081] RAX: ff3d5b4be00b1d50 RBX: 0000000002040002 RCX: ff3d5b0a270f2000
[ 2517.878966] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: ff3d5b0b021fb9f8 RDI: 0000000000000000
[ 2517.882849] RBP: ff3d5b0b96a6fa00 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: 0000000000000000
[ 2517.886718] R10: 000000000000000c R11: 000000000000000c R12: ff3d5b0b021fb9f8
[ 2517.890575] R13: 0000000002000000 R14: ff3d5b0b021fb1b0 R15: 0000000000000018
[ 2517.894434] FS:  0000000000000000(0000) GS:ff3d5b42bfc80000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
[ 2517.898299] CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
[ 2517.902157] CR2: 000000000000001a CR3: 00000004f023e005 CR4: 0000000000771ee0
[ 2517.906053] DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000
[ 2517.909930] DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400
[ 2517.913761] PKRU: 55555554
[ 2517.917558] Call Trace:
[ 2517.921294]  <TASK>
[ 2517.924982]  nvme_complete_rq+0x1c3/0x1e0 [nvme_core]
[ 2517.928715]  nvme_tcp_recv_pdu+0x4d7/0x540 [nvme_tcp]
[ 2517.932442]  nvme_tcp_recv_skb+0x4f/0x240 [nvme_tcp]
[ 2517.936137]  ? nvme_tcp_recv_pdu+0x540/0x540 [nvme_tcp]
[ 2517.939830]  tcp_read_sock+0x9c/0x260
[ 2517.943486]  nvme_tcp_try_recv+0x65/0xa0 [nvme_tcp]
[ 2517.947173]  nvme_tcp_io_work+0x64/0x90 [nvme_tcp]
[ 2517.950834]  process_one_work+0x1e8/0x390
[ 2517.954473]  worker_thread+0x53/0x3c0
[ 2517.958069]  ? process_one_work+0x390/0x390
[ 2517.961655]  kthread+0x10c/0x130
[ 2517.965211]  ? set_kthread_struct+0x40/0x40
[ 2517.968760]  ret_from_fork+0x1f/0x30
[ 2517.972285]  </TASK>

To avoid this situation, add a NULL check for req->bio before
calling trace_block_bio_complete.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50388?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-50388?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-50388 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50388 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-2022-50388 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-50388 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 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-2022-50388 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-2022-50388/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50388/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-50388
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-50388
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-50388

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50388/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.