CVE-2022-49228 | bpf: Fix a btf decl_tag bug when tagging a function

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Fix a btf decl_tag bug when tagging a function syzbot reported a btf decl_tag bug with stack trace below: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000000: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000000-0x0000000000000007] CPU: 0 PID: 3592 Comm: syz-executor914 Not tainted 5.16.0-syzkaller-11424-gb7892f7d5cb2 #0 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 01/01/2011 RIP: 0010:btf_type_vlen include/linux/btf.h:231 [inline] RIP: 0010:btf_decl_tag_resolve+0x83e/0xaa0 kernel/bpf/btf.c:3910 ... Call Trace: <TASK> btf_resolve+0x251/0x1020 kernel/bpf/btf.c:4198 btf_check_all_types kernel/bpf/btf.c:4239 [inline] btf_parse_type_sec kernel/bpf/btf.c:4280 [inline] btf_parse kernel/bpf/btf.c:4513 [inline] btf_new_fd+0x19fe/0x2370 kernel/bpf/btf.c:6047 bpf_btf_load kernel/bpf/syscall.c:4039 [inline] __sys_bpf+0x1cbb/0x5970 kernel/bpf/syscall.c:4679 __do_sys_bpf kernel/bpf/syscall.c:4738 [inline] __se_sys_bpf kernel/bpf/syscall.c:4736 [inline] __x64_sys_bpf+0x75/0xb0 kernel/bpf/syscall.c:4736 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x35/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae The kasan error is triggered with an illegal BTF like below: type 0: void type 1: int type 2: decl_tag to func type 3 type 3: func to func_proto type 8 The total number of types is 4 and the type 3 is illegal since its func_proto type is out of range. Currently, the target type of decl_tag can be struct/union, var or func. Both struct/union and var implemented their own 'resolve' callback functions and hence handled properly in kernel. But func type doesn't have 'resolve' callback function. When btf_decl_tag_resolve() tries to check func type, it tries to get vlen of its func_proto type, which triggered the above kasan error. To fix the issue, btf_decl_tag_resolve() needs to do btf_func_check() before trying to accessing func_proto type. In the current implementation, func type is checked with btf_func_check() in the main checking function btf_check_all_types(). To fix the above kasan issue, let us implement 'resolve' callback func type properly. The 'resolve' callback will be also called in btf_check_all_types() for func types.

Published: 2025-02-26 Last update: 2025-09-22 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2022-49228 is rated Low Risk (28.4/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.04%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

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-2022-49228

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 2025-02-27 0.04%

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-49228

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2022-49228

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-49228

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2022-49228 unimportant 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-2022-49228
redhat low https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-49228
suse medium https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-49228/
ubuntu medium CVE-2022-49228 medium priority: Ubuntu including 128 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1024 status rows across 8 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, oracular, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 702, ignored 146, not-affected 114, released 62. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-49228

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-49228

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 5.16.19 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.17, < 5.17.2 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2022-49228

cvelogic Threat Intelligence