Kernel crash via scheduler priority race
Published Aug 22, 2024 · Updated May 23, 2026
Race condition in the Linux kernel scheduler allows local users to crash the system by changing thread-group priorities during fork. setpriority(PRIO_PGRP) can reach a TASK_NEW thread before sched_post_fork initializes its CFS run-queue pointer, causing reweight_entity to dereference null. Triggering the race requires local low-privileged execution and concurrent thread creation and priority changes; the bounded consequence is a kernel crash and service interruption.
Summary
What happened
Race condition in the Linux kernel scheduler allows local users to crash the system by changing thread-group priorities during fork. setpriority(PRIO_PGRP) can reach a TASK_NEW thread before sched_post_fork initializes its CFS run-queue pointer, causing reweight_entity to dereference null. Triggering the race requires local low-privileged execution and concurrent thread creation and priority changes; the bounded consequence is a kernel crash and service interruption.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-48921
- Published
- Aug 22, 2024
- Updated
- May 23, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-362, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 22, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 23, 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=25d40b828fb855ee62e1039c65a666c9afd60786
- Affected versionversion=3869eecf050416a1d19bac60926f6b5d64b0aa58 <e0bcd6b5779352aed88f2e538a82a39f1a7715bb
- Affected versionversion=4ef0c5c6b5ba1f38f0ea1cedad0cad722f00c14a <13765de8148f71fa795e0a6607de37c49ea5915a
- Affected versionversion=4ef0c5c6b5ba1f38f0ea1cedad0cad722f00c14a <589a954daab5e18399860b6c8ffaeaf79844eb20
- Affected versionversion=5.10.80 <5.10.137
- Affected versionversion=5.14.19 <5.15
- Affected versionversion=5.15.3 <5.15.27
- Affected versionversion=5.16
- Affected versionversion=c85c6fadbef0a3eab41540ea628fa8fe8928c820 <8f317cd888059c59e2fa924bf4b0957cfa53f78e
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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