# CVE-2022-50494: thermal: intel_powerclamp: Use get_cpu() instead of smp_processor_id() to avoid crash

> A local attacker can trigger a kernel crash in the Intel powerclamp driver by offlining CPU 0, 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:** 4 Oct 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50494, GHSA-256h-gf49-r65r, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50494

## What is CVE-2022-50494?

CVE-2022-50494 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 4 Oct 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:

thermal: intel_powerclamp: Use get_cpu() instead of smp_processor_id() to avoid crash

When CPU 0 is offline and intel_powerclamp is used to inject
idle, it generates kernel BUG:

BUG: using smp_processor_id() in preemptible [00000000] code: bash/15687
caller is debug_smp_processor_id+0x17/0x20
CPU: 4 PID: 15687 Comm: bash Not tainted 5.19.0-rc7+ #57
Call Trace:
<TASK>
dump_stack_lvl+0x49/0x63
dump_stack+0x10/0x16
check_preemption_disabled+0xdd/0xe0
debug_smp_processor_id+0x17/0x20
powerclamp_set_cur_state+0x7f/0xf9 [intel_powerclamp]
...
...

Here CPU 0 is the control CPU by default and changed to the current CPU,
if CPU 0 offlined. This check has to be performed under cpus_read_lock(),
hence the above warning.

Use get_cpu() instead of smp_processor_id() to avoid this BUG.

[ rjw: Subject edits ]

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50494?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-50494?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-50494 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50494 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-2022-50494 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-50494 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 4 Oct 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-2022-50494 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-2022-50494/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50494/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-50494
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-50494
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-50494

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50494/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.