CVE-2022-50409 net: If sock is dead don't access sock's sk_wq in sk_stream_wait_memory
A race condition in the Linux kernel network stack causes a NULL pointer dereference, leading to a system crash.
- 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-2022-50409?
CVE-2022-50409 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:
net: If sock is dead don't access sock's sk_wq in sk_stream_wait_memory
Fixes the below NULL pointer dereference:
[...] [ 14.471200] Call Trace: [ 14.471562] <TASK> [ 14.471882] lock_acquire+0x245/0x2e0 [ 14.472416] ? remove_wait_queue+0x12/0x50 [ 14.473014] ? _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x17/0x50 [ 14.473681] _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x3d/0x50 [ 14.474318] ? remove_wait_queue+0x12/0x50 [ 14.474907] remove_wait_queue+0x12/0x50 [ 14.475480] sk_stream_wait_memory+0x20d/0x340 [ 14.476127] ? do_wait_intr_irq+0x80/0x80 [ 14.476704] do_tcp_sendpages+0x287/0x600 [ 14.477283] tcp_bpf_push+0xab/0x260 [ 14.477817] tcp_bpf_sendmsg_redir+0x297/0x500 [ 14.478461] ? __local_bh_enable_ip+0x77/0xe0 [ 14.479096] tcp_bpf_send_verdict+0x105/0x470 [ 14.479729] tcp_bpf_sendmsg+0x318/0x4f0 [ 14.480311] sock_sendmsg+0x2d/0x40 [ 14.480822] ____sys_sendmsg+0x1b4/0x1c0 [ 14.481390] ? copy_msghdr_from_user+0x62/0x80 [ 14.482048] ___sys_sendmsg+0x78/0xb0 [ 14.482580] ? vmf_insert_pfn_prot+0x91/0x150 [ 14.483215] ? __do_fault+0x2a/0x1a0 [ 14.483738] ? do_fault+0x15e/0x5d0 [ 14.484246] ? __handle_mm_fault+0x56b/0x1040 [ 14.484874] ? lock_is_held_type+0xdf/0x130 [ 14.485474] ? find_held_lock+0x2d/0x90 [ 14.486046] ? __sys_sendmsg+0x41/0x70 [ 14.486587] __sys_sendmsg+0x41/0x70 [ 14.487105] ? intel_pmu_drain_pebs_core+0x350/0x350 [ 14.487822] do_syscall_64+0x34/0x80 [ 14.488345] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd [...]
The test scenario has the following flow:
thread1 thread2 ----------- --------------- tcp_bpf_sendmsg tcp_bpf_send_verdict tcp_bpf_sendmsg_redir sock_close tcp_bpf_push_locked __sock_release tcp_bpf_push //inet_release do_tcp_sendpages sock->ops->release sk_stream_wait_memory // tcp_close sk_wait_event sk->sk_prot->close release_sock(__sk); *** lock_sock(sk); __tcp_close sock_orphan(sk) sk->sk_wq = NULL release_sock **** lock_sock(__sk); remove_wait_queue(sk_sleep(sk), &wait); sk_sleep(sk) //NULL pointer dereference &rcu_dereference_raw(sk->sk_wq)->wait
While waiting for memory in thread1, the socket is released with its wait queue because thread2 has closed it. This caused by tcp_bpf_send_verdict didn't increase the f_count of psock->sk_redir->sk_socket->file in thread1.
We should check if SOCK_DEAD flag is set on wakeup in sk_stream_wait_memory before accessing the wait queue.
Weakness: CWE-476
Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50409?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2022-50409?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2022-50409 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50409 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50409, GHSA-jv66-mppc-fxjf, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50409.