Local kernel crash via perf event race
Published May 1, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026
A race condition in Linux kernel 5.19 through 6.0.9 on AMD x86 systems allows local users to crash the kernel via perf event throttling. An intervening perf NMI can throttle an unintentionally enabled event after amd_pmu_enable_all checks active_mask, causing x86_pmu_stop to clear cpuc->events[idx] before it is dereferenced. Exploitation requires local low-privileged access, an AMD performance-monitoring event with a very low sampling period, and precisely timed successive NMIs; the documented consequence is a kernel crash.
Summary
What happened
A race condition in Linux kernel 5.19 through 6.0.9 on AMD x86 systems allows local users to crash the kernel via perf event throttling. An intervening perf NMI can throttle an unintentionally enabled event after amd_pmu_enable_all checks active_mask, causing x86_pmu_stop to clear cpuc->events[idx] before it is dereferenced. Exploitation requires local low-privileged access, an AMD performance-monitoring event with a very low sampling period, and precisely timed successive NMIs; the documented consequence is a kernel crash.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-49781
- Published
- May 1, 2025
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-362, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 1, 2025CVE 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=5.19
- Affected versionversion=ada543459cab7f653dcacdaba4011a8bb19c627c <baa014b9543c8e5e94f5d15b66abfe60750b8284
- Affected versionversion=ada543459cab7f653dcacdaba4011a8bb19c627c <fd5e454b856ed86b090336e269695d9908609b71
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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