# CVE-2022-50563: dm thin: Fix UAF in run_timer_softirq()

> A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's dm thin driver allows local attackers with high privileges to execute arbitrary code or escalate privileges.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 22 Oct 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50563, GHSA-9g9c-838j-m3cg, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50563

## What is CVE-2022-50563?

CVE-2022-50563 is an use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 22 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:

dm thin: Fix UAF in run_timer_softirq()

When dm_resume() and dm_destroy() are concurrent, it will
lead to UAF, as follows:

 BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in __run_timers+0x173/0x710
 Write of size 8 at addr ffff88816d9490f0 by task swapper/0/0
<snip>
 Call Trace:
  <IRQ>
  dump_stack_lvl+0x73/0x9f
  print_report.cold+0x132/0xaa2
  _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0xcd/0x160
  __run_timers+0x173/0x710
  kasan_report+0xad/0x110
  __run_timers+0x173/0x710
  __asan_store8+0x9c/0x140
  __run_timers+0x173/0x710
  call_timer_fn+0x310/0x310
  pvclock_clocksource_read+0xfa/0x250
  kvm_clock_read+0x2c/0x70
  kvm_clock_get_cycles+0xd/0x20
  ktime_get+0x5c/0x110
  lapic_next_event+0x38/0x50
  clockevents_program_event+0xf1/0x1e0
  run_timer_softirq+0x49/0x90
  __do_softirq+0x16e/0x62c
  __irq_exit_rcu+0x1fa/0x270
  irq_exit_rcu+0x12/0x20
  sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt+0x8e/0xc0

One of the concurrency UAF can be shown as below:

        use                                  free
do_resume                           |
  __find_device_hash_cell           |
    dm_get                          |
      atomic_inc(&md->holders)      |
                                    | dm_destroy
                                    |   __dm_destroy
                                    |     if (!dm_suspended_md(md))
                                    |     atomic_read(&md->holders)
                                    |     msleep(1)
  dm_resume                         |
    __dm_resume                     |
      dm_table_resume_targets       |
        pool_resume                 |
          do_waker  #add delay work |
  dm_put                            |
    atomic_dec(&md->holders)        |
                                    |     dm_table_destroy
                                    |       pool_dtr
                                    |         __pool_dec
                                    |           __pool_destroy
                                    |             destroy_workqueue
                                    |             kfree(pool) # free pool
        time out
__do_softirq
  run_timer_softirq # pool has already been freed

This can be easily reproduced using:
  1. create thin-pool
  2. dmsetup suspend pool
  3. dmsetup resume pool
  4. dmsetup remove_all # Concurrent with 3

The root cause of this UAF bug is that dm_resume() adds timer after
dm_destroy() skips cancelling the timer because of suspend status.
After timeout, it will call run_timer_softirq(), however pool has
already been freed. The concurrency UAF bug will happen.

Therefore, cancelling timer again in __pool_destroy().

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50563?


## How do I fix CVE-2022-50563?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-50563 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50563 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-50563 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-50563 is an use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 22 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-2022-50563 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2022-50563/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50563/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-50563
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-50563
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-50563

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-50563/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.