Process memory corruption via premature zram slot discard
Published Feb 26, 2025 · Updated Aug 5, 2026
Race condition in the Linux kernel 4.15 through 5.17.3 allows local users to corrupt process memory via concurrent zram swap faults. In do_swap_page, swap_slot_free_notify discards a zram entry before the page-table lock establishes that shared CLONE_VM faults have finished using the slot, so a second fault maps a zero-filled page over valid data. Exploitation requires zram-backed swap, shared-memory threads, and controlled swap pressure; corrupted pages can crash affected workloads and damage their persistent state.
Summary
What happened
Race condition in the Linux kernel 4.15 through 5.17.3 allows local users to corrupt process memory via concurrent zram swap faults. In do_swap_page, swap_slot_free_notify discards a zram entry before the page-table lock establishes that shared CLONE_VM faults have finished using the slot, so a second fault maps a zero-filled page over valid data. Exploitation requires zram-backed swap, shared-memory threads, and controlled swap pressure; corrupted pages can crash affected workloads and damage their persistent state.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-49052
- Published
- Feb 26, 2025
- Updated
- Aug 5, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Feb 26, 2025CVE 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=0bcac06f27d7528591c27ac2b093ccd71c5d0168 <12ba1d38115a101c45d8e0ca3aa1181fd148e57f
- Affected versionversion=0bcac06f27d7528591c27ac2b093ccd71c5d0168 <20ed94f8181a25212e7404e44958e234f407624b
- Affected versionversion=0bcac06f27d7528591c27ac2b093ccd71c5d0168 <afac4b88699a06c8b9369f9d759a1ec3c254b788
- Affected versionversion=0bcac06f27d7528591c27ac2b093ccd71c5d0168 <e914d8f00391520ecc4495dd0ca0124538ab7119
- Affected versionversion=0bcac06f27d7528591c27ac2b093ccd71c5d0168 <f098f8b9820fe3f2e41aefc4329dfe8a3859d1c1
- Affected versionversion=0bcac06f27d7528591c27ac2b093ccd71c5d0168 <f86d55cf616199404c05f5b0c5c41b17351baa02
- Affected versionversion=4.15
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
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Weakness, pattern, technique
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Technologies
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Your stack
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