CVE-2022-49390 | macsec: fix UAF bug for real_dev

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: macsec: fix UAF bug for real_dev Create a new macsec device but not get reference to real_dev. That can not ensure that real_dev is freed after macsec. That will trigger the UAF bug for real_dev as following: ================================================================== BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in macsec_get_iflink+0x5f/0x70 drivers/net/macsec.c:3662 Call Trace: ... macsec_get_iflink+0x5f/0x70 drivers/net/macsec.c:3662 dev_get_iflink+0x73/0xe0 net/core/dev.c:637 default_operstate net/core/link_watch.c:42 [inline] rfc2863_policy+0x233/0x2d0 net/core/link_watch.c:54 linkwatch_do_dev+0x2a/0x150 net/core/link_watch.c:161 Allocated by task 22209: ... alloc_netdev_mqs+0x98/0x1100 net/core/dev.c:10549 rtnl_create_link+0x9d7/0xc00 net/core/rtnetlink.c:3235 veth_newlink+0x20e/0xa90 drivers/net/veth.c:1748 Freed by task 8: ... kfree+0xd6/0x4d0 mm/slub.c:4552 kvfree+0x42/0x50 mm/util.c:615 device_release+0x9f/0x240 drivers/base/core.c:2229 kobject_cleanup lib/kobject.c:673 [inline] kobject_release lib/kobject.c:704 [inline] kref_put include/linux/kref.h:65 [inline] kobject_put+0x1c8/0x540 lib/kobject.c:721 netdev_run_todo+0x72e/0x10b0 net/core/dev.c:10327 After commit faab39f63c1f ("net: allow out-of-order netdev unregistration") and commit e5f80fcf869a ("ipv6: give an IPv6 dev to blackhole_netdev"), we can add dev_hold_track() in macsec_dev_init() and dev_put_track() in macsec_free_netdev() to fix the problem.

Published: 2025-02-26 Last update: 2025-03-25 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2022-49390 is rated Low Risk (32.3/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.01%). 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-2022-49390

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 2026-05-20 0.11% 0.01% -0.10%
2 2026-04-06 0.03% 0.11% +0.08%
3 2025-11-21 0.03%

Full EPSS history (5 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-49390

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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: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: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.
1.8 5.9 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2022-49390

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-49390

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2022-49390 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 4, open 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2022-49390
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-49390
suse medium https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-49390/
ubuntu high CVE-2022-49390 high priority: Ubuntu including 158 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1551 status rows across 10 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1145, released 162, ignored 146, not-affected 97, needed 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-49390

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-49390

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 4.14.154, < 4.15 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 4.19.84, < 4.20 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.3.11, < 5.17.15 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.18, < 5.18.3 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2022-49390

cvelogic Threat Intelligence