Local privilege escalation via socket type confusion
Published Jun 18, 2025 · Updated Aug 5, 2026
Type confusion in affected Linux kernel releases allows local users to corrupt kernel socket memory through an SMC fallback connection. smc_fback_replace_callbacks stores an SMC socket in clcsk->sk_user_data, but sk_psock_get later treats that untagged pointer as a psock during shutdown. An unprivileged user must create an AF_SMC socket, trigger TCP fallback, enable kTLS receive handling, and call shutdown; exploitation can panic the kernel or enable local privilege escalation.
Summary
What happened
Type confusion in affected Linux kernel releases allows local users to corrupt kernel socket memory through an SMC fallback connection. smc_fback_replace_callbacks stores an SMC socket in clcsk->sk_user_data, but sk_psock_get later treats that untagged pointer as a psock during shutdown. An unprivileged user must create an AF_SMC socket, trigger TCP fallback, enable kTLS receive handling, and call shutdown; exploitation can panic the kernel or enable local privilege escalation.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-49979
- Published
- Jun 18, 2025
- Updated
- Aug 5, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jun 18, 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?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=0ef6049f664941bc0f75828b3a61877635048b27 <a5d1cb908131e939bd8b63b8e5e23365bbc2edaf
- Affected versionversion=341adeec9adad0874f29a0a1af35638207352a39 <2a0133723f9ebeb751cfce19f74ec07e108bef1f
- Affected versionversion=341adeec9adad0874f29a0a1af35638207352a39 <86026be8535c16fcc5e4f960286faf04d7f77815
- Affected versionversion=504078fbe9dd570d685361b57784a6050bc40aaa
- Affected versionversion=5.15.22 <5.15.65
- Affected versionversion=5.16.8 <5.17
- Affected versionversion=5.17
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
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
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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