CVE-2022-21499

KGDB and KDB allow read and write access to kernel memory, and thus should be restricted during lockdown. An attacker with access to a serial port could trigger the debugger so it is important that the debugger respect the lockdown mode when/if it is triggered. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 6.7 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Published: 2022-06-09 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2022-21499 is rated Moderate Risk (42.9/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.62%). Mandatory action: Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2022-21499

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.16% 0.62% +0.45%
2 2025-11-21 0.75% 0.16% -0.59%
3 2025-11-18 0.75%

Full EPSS history (11 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-21499

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.7 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
0.8 5.9 [email protected]
6.7 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
0.8 5.9 [email protected]
4.6 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
3.9 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2022-21499

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-21499

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2022-21499 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2022-21499
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-21499
suse high https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-21499/
ubuntu high CVE-2022-21499 high priority: Ubuntu including 167 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner, …), 2042 status rows across 15 suites (bionic, focal, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1576, released 212, not-affected 198, ignored 56. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-21499

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-21499

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
oracle linux 6 cpe:2.3:o:oracle:linux:6:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle linux 7 cpe:2.3:o:oracle:linux:7:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle linux 8 cpe:2.3:o:oracle:linux:8:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2022-21499

cvelogic Threat Intelligence