CVE-2022-50091

Boot panic via premature static-branch enablement

Published Jun 18, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026

NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel allows attackers to crash affected arm64 systems via the csdlock_debug boot parameter. During early boot, csdlock_debug() calls static_branch_enable() before mem_section initialization, so __nr_to_section returns NULL and is dereferenced. The panic requires csdlock_debug on arm64 with CONFIG_SPARSEMEM=y and CONFIG_SPARSEMEM_VMEMMAP=n; powerpc instead reports static-key initialization failures.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.23%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel allows attackers to crash affected arm64 systems via the csdlock_debug boot parameter. During early boot, csdlock_debug() calls static_branch_enable() before mem_section initialization, so __nr_to_section returns NULL and is dereferenced. The panic requires csdlock_debug on arm64 with CONFIG_SPARSEMEM=y and CONFIG_SPARSEMEM_VMEMMAP=n; powerpc instead reports static-key initialization failures.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-50091
Published
Jun 18, 2025
Updated
May 11, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-476, T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jun 18, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=5.13
  2. Affected versionversion=8d0968cc6b8ffd8496c2ebffdfdc801f949a85e5 <05de9e2e33b1625c71aee69e353fe906dd2be88a
  3. Affected versionversion=8d0968cc6b8ffd8496c2ebffdfdc801f949a85e5 <9c9b26b0df270d4f9246e483a44686fca951a29c
  4. Affected versionversion=8d0968cc6b8ffd8496c2ebffdfdc801f949a85e5 <b480d1e9a8c11ecc1c99dc01814b28e3103bd0a0
  5. Affected versionversion=8d0968cc6b8ffd8496c2ebffdfdc801f949a85e5 <d2cbdbe22b5f190055d2d0ae92e7454479343a30

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=5.13; version=8d0968cc6b8ffd8496c2ebffdfdc801f949a85e5 <05de9e2e33b1625c71aee69e353fe906dd2be88a; version=8d0968cc6b8ffd8496c2ebffdfdc801f949a85e5 <9c9b26b0df270d4f9246e483a44686fca951a29c; version=8d0968cc6b8ffd8496c2ebffdfdc801f949a85e5 <b480d1e9a8c11ecc1c99dc01814b28e3103bd0a0; version=8d0968cc6b8ffd8496c2ebffdfdc801f949a85e5 <d2cbdbe22b5f190055d2d0ae92e7454479343a30

Published CVSS scores

5.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-476NULL Pointer Dereference
T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

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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