Kernel panic via failed slab-cache allocation
Published Apr 28, 2024 · Updated May 11, 2026
Denial of service in Linux allows local users to panic the kernel by triggering an allocation failure during slab-cache creation. In mm/slub.c, create_unique_id() tests a failed GFP_KERNEL allocation with BUG_ON() instead of returning an error. Reachability requires local access and memory exhaustion during slab-cache creation, and successful triggering crashes the kernel without exposing or modifying data.
Summary
What happened
Denial of service in Linux allows local users to panic the kernel by triggering an allocation failure during slab-cache creation. In mm/slub.c, create_unique_id() tests a failed GFP_KERNEL allocation with BUG_ON() instead of returning an error. Reachability requires local access and memory exhaustion during slab-cache creation, and successful triggering crashes the kernel without exposing or modifying data.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-48659
- Published
- Apr 28, 2024
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Apr 28, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 11, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=2.6.22
- Affected versionversion=81819f0fc8285a2a5a921c019e3e3d7b6169d225 <016b150992eebc32c4a18f783cf2bb6e2545a3d9
- Affected versionversion=81819f0fc8285a2a5a921c019e3e3d7b6169d225 <02bcd951aa3c2cea95fb241c20802e9501940296
- Affected versionversion=81819f0fc8285a2a5a921c019e3e3d7b6169d225 <2d6e55e0c03804e1e227b80a5746e086d6c6696c
- Affected versionversion=81819f0fc8285a2a5a921c019e3e3d7b6169d225 <379ac7905ff3f0a6a4e507d3e9f710ec4fab9124
- Affected versionversion=81819f0fc8285a2a5a921c019e3e3d7b6169d225 <7e9c323c52b379d261a72dc7bd38120a761a93cd
- Affected versionversion=81819f0fc8285a2a5a921c019e3e3d7b6169d225 <a1d83a19cec3bfeb2b3547a1f7631e432a766d1c
- Affected versionversion=81819f0fc8285a2a5a921c019e3e3d7b6169d225 <e9219fa63c5c25804af82c7aa54d1ec770ebe457
- Affected versionversion=81819f0fc8285a2a5a921c019e3e3d7b6169d225 <e996821717c5cf8aa1e1abdb6b3d900a231e3755
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Attacks
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