CVE-2022-49707 | ext4: add reserved GDT blocks check

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: add reserved GDT blocks check We capture a NULL pointer issue when resizing a corrupt ext4 image which is freshly clear resize_inode feature (not run e2fsck). It could be simply reproduced by following steps. The problem is because of the resize_inode feature was cleared, and it will convert the filesystem to meta_bg mode in ext4_resize_fs(), but the es->s_reserved_gdt_blocks was not reduced to zero, so could we mistakenly call reserve_backup_gdb() and passing an uninitialized resize_inode to it when adding new group descriptors. mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda 3G tune2fs -O ^resize_inode /dev/sda #forget to run requested e2fsck mount /dev/sda /mnt resize2fs /dev/sda 8G ======== BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000028 CPU: 19 PID: 3243 Comm: resize2fs Not tainted 5.18.0-rc7-00001-gfde086c5ebfd #748 ... RIP: 0010:ext4_flex_group_add+0xe08/0x2570 ... Call Trace: <TASK> ext4_resize_fs+0xbec/0x1660 __ext4_ioctl+0x1749/0x24e0 ext4_ioctl+0x12/0x20 __x64_sys_ioctl+0xa6/0x110 do_syscall_64+0x3b/0x90 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae RIP: 0033:0x7f2dd739617b ======== The fix is simple, add a check in ext4_resize_begin() to make sure that the es->s_reserved_gdt_blocks is zero when the resize_inode feature is disabled.

Published: 2025-02-26 Last update: 2025-10-01 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2022-49707 is rated Low Risk (24.2/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.03%). 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-2022-49707

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 2025-07-22 0.07% 0.03% -0.04%
2 2025-06-28 0.04% 0.07% +0.02%
3 2025-02-27 0.04%

Full EPSS history (3 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-49707

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]
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 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2022-49707

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-49707

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2022-49707 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-2022-49707
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-49707
suse medium https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-49707/
ubuntu medium CVE-2022-49707 medium 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 151, ignored 149, not-affected 100, needed 5, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-49707

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-49707

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel < 4.9.320 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 4.10, < 4.14.285 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 4.15, < 4.19.249 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 4.20, < 5.4.200 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.5, < 5.10.124 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.15.49 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 5.18.6 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 5.19 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.19:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 5.19 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.19:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2022-49707

cvelogic Threat Intelligence