Local system crash via transmit-path null dereference
Published May 1, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026
NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel 5.19 mac80211 allows local users to crash the system during a wireless interface type change. A race lets ieee80211_do_stop set sdata->bss to NULL while the transmit queue continues into ieee80211_subif_start_xmit, which dereferences it during multicast-to-unicast handling. Triggering the fault requires local low-privileged access and a running mac80211 wireless interface whose type is changed while queued packets are still transmitted.
Summary
What happened
NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel 5.19 mac80211 allows local users to crash the system during a wireless interface type change. A race lets ieee80211_do_stop set sdata->bss to NULL while the transmit queue continues into ieee80211_subif_start_xmit, which dereferences it during multicast-to-unicast handling. Triggering the fault requires local low-privileged access and a running mac80211 wireless interface whose type is changed while queued packets are still transmitted.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-49876
- Published
- May 1, 2025
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-476, T1499
- 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=f856373e2f31ffd340e47e2b00027bd4070f74b3 <03eb68c72cee249aeb7af7d04a83c033aca3d6d9
- Affected versionversion=f856373e2f31ffd340e47e2b00027bd4070f74b3 <780854186946e0de2be192ee7fa5125666533b3a
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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