Boot-time crash via unchecked clock allocation failure
Published Dec 14, 2022 · Updated Apr 22, 2025
NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel through 5.16-rc6 allows attackers to cause a boot-time crash on i.MX systems. The imx_register_uart_clocks function stores the result of kcalloc in imx_uart_clocks and continues without checking for allocation failure, so later clock setup dereferences a null pointer. The affected path runs only during boot on systems using the i.MX clock driver, and the reported consequence is a kernel crash rather than data access or modification.
Summary
What happened
NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel through 5.16-rc6 allows attackers to cause a boot-time crash on i.MX systems. The imx_register_uart_clocks function stores the result of kcalloc in imx_uart_clocks and continues without checking for allocation failure, so later clock setup dereferences a null pointer. The affected path runs only during boot on systems using the i.MX clock driver, and the reported consequence is a kernel crash rather than data access or modification.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-3114
- Published
- Dec 14, 2022
- Updated
- Apr 22, 2025
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux Kernel
- Classifications
- CWE-476, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Dec 14, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Apr 22, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=Linux 5.16-rc6
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo