Local privilege escalation via iwlwifi use-after-free
Published Jul 16, 2024 · Updated Aug 5, 2026
Use-after-free in affected Linux kernels' iwlwifi driver allows local users to gain elevated privileges when firmware loading fails. When no firmware is available or every candidate firmware file fails to parse, device_release_driver() invokes iwl_drv_stop() and frees drv, but the failure path then dereferences the freed structure. Reachability requires local low-privileged access, a supported Intel wireless device, and a firmware-loading failure; successful exploitation grants kernel-level control, while failed attempts can crash the system.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in affected Linux kernels' iwlwifi driver allows local users to gain elevated privileges when firmware loading fails. When no firmware is available or every candidate firmware file fails to parse, device_release_driver() invokes iwl_drv_stop() and frees drv, but the failure path then dereferences the freed structure. Reachability requires local low-privileged access, a supported Intel wireless device, and a firmware-loading failure; successful exploitation grants kernel-level control, while failed attempts can crash the system.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-48787
- Published
- Jul 16, 2024
- Updated
- Aug 5, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-416, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jul 16, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 5, 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?
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- Affected versionversion=0446cafa843e6db4982731c167e11c80d42be7e2 <494de920d98f125b099f27a2d274850750aff957
- Affected versionversion=1d7cc54137a4f28506dc7beac235b240b08f4e59 <7d6475179b85a83186ccce59cdc359d4f07d0bcb
- Affected versionversion=4.14.263 <4.14.268
- Affected versionversion=4.19.226 <4.19.231
- Affected versionversion=5.10.94 <5.10.102
- Affected versionversion=5.15.17 <5.15.25
- Affected versionversion=5.16.3 <5.16.11
- Affected versionversion=5.4.174 <5.4.181
- Affected versionversion=6b5ad4bd0d78fef6bbe0ecdf96e09237c9c52cc1 <9958b9cbb22145295ee1ffaea0904c383da2c05d
- Affected versionversion=8e10749fa1a454c1e7214f36cec83241f5a36ef1 <d3b98fe36f8a06ce654049540773256ab59cb53d
- Affected versionversion=ab07506b0454bea606095951e19e72c282bfbb42 <bea2662e7818e15d7607d17d57912ac984275d94
- Affected versionversion=e23f075d77987de4215c8e0696f28bcc707506f7 <ddd46059f7d99119b62d44c519df7a79f2e6a515
- Affected versionversion=febab6b60d61d13cd9f30a2991deea56df39567d <008508c16af0087cda0394e1ac6f0493b01b6063
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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