CVE-2022-50244

Kernel crash via invalid device unregistration

Published Sep 15, 2025 · Updated Sep 15, 2025

NULL pointer dereference in affected Linux kernel releases allows local users to crash the kernel during CXL PCI accelerator initialization. When device_register() fails in cxl_pci_init_afu() or cxl_pci_init_adapter(), the error path calls device_unregister() for a device that was never added. Exploitation requires POWER8 or POWER9 CAPI accelerator hardware and a device-registration failure; the published consequence is a kernel crash.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.16%
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 affected Linux kernel releases allows local users to crash the kernel during CXL PCI accelerator initialization. When device_register() fails in cxl_pci_init_afu() or cxl_pci_init_adapter(), the error path calls device_unregister() for a device that was never added. Exploitation requires POWER8 or POWER9 CAPI accelerator hardware and a device-registration failure; the published consequence is a kernel crash.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-50244
Published
Sep 15, 2025
Updated
Sep 15, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-476, T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 15, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 15, 2025Record 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=3.18
  2. Affected versionversion=f204e0b8cedd7da1dfcfd05ed6b7692737e24029 <02cd3032b154fa02fdf90e7467abaeed889330b2
  3. Affected versionversion=f204e0b8cedd7da1dfcfd05ed6b7692737e24029 <0f63c0ddc2ea20d783d29243f4dbe0f9e95dfdec
  4. Affected versionversion=f204e0b8cedd7da1dfcfd05ed6b7692737e24029 <139abd4c626a6f7ce02789ed5f73aa2256e0542b
  5. Affected versionversion=f204e0b8cedd7da1dfcfd05ed6b7692737e24029 <22511eefa61db26e12c97dd7ada3071dbdfcb004
  6. Affected versionversion=f204e0b8cedd7da1dfcfd05ed6b7692737e24029 <2f5fd31b2f24b9b8a80ab566fd8c4e1e94cb4339
  7. Affected versionversion=f204e0b8cedd7da1dfcfd05ed6b7692737e24029 <361412dae1690d4b5df6f92fc943cdc773c95cbc
  8. Affected versionversion=f204e0b8cedd7da1dfcfd05ed6b7692737e24029 <82e5481428faf11c79b9c094dd24a1849bbf64ac
  9. Affected versionversion=f204e0b8cedd7da1dfcfd05ed6b7692737e24029 <82e68432668ae75b4c814d160f6987ecb0681273
  10. Affected versionversion=f204e0b8cedd7da1dfcfd05ed6b7692737e24029 <c4b2e35df919d99bbbed033c2fa0b607f9f463b5

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=3.18; version=f204e0b8cedd7da1dfcfd05ed6b7692737e24029 <02cd3032b154fa02fdf90e7467abaeed889330b2; version=f204e0b8cedd7da1dfcfd05ed6b7692737e24029 <0f63c0ddc2ea20d783d29243f4dbe0f9e95dfdec; version=f204e0b8cedd7da1dfcfd05ed6b7692737e24029 <139abd4c626a6f7ce02789ed5f73aa2256e0542b; version=f204e0b8cedd7da1dfcfd05ed6b7692737e24029 <22511eefa61db26e12c97dd7ada3071dbdfcb004; version=f204e0b8cedd7da1dfcfd05ed6b7692737e24029 <2f5fd31b2f24b9b8a80ab566fd8c4e1e94cb4339; version=f204e0b8cedd7da1dfcfd05ed6b7692737e24029 <361412dae1690d4b5df6f92fc943cdc773c95cbc; version=f204e0b8cedd7da1dfcfd05ed6b7692737e24029 <82e5481428faf11c79b9c094dd24a1849bbf64ac; version=f204e0b8cedd7da1dfcfd05ed6b7692737e24029 <82e68432668ae75b4c814d160f6987ecb0681273; version=f204e0b8cedd7da1dfcfd05ed6b7692737e24029 <c4b2e35df919d99bbbed033c2fa0b607f9f463b5

Published CVSS scores

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

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 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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