CVE-2022-49721 | arm64: ftrace: consistently handle PLTs.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: arm64: ftrace: consistently handle PLTs. Sometimes it is necessary to use a PLT entry to call an ftrace trampoline. This is handled by ftrace_make_call() and ftrace_make_nop(), with each having *almost* identical logic, but this is not handled by ftrace_modify_call() since its introduction in commit: 3b23e4991fb66f6d ("arm64: implement ftrace with regs") Due to this, if we ever were to call ftrace_modify_call() for a callsite which requires a PLT entry for a trampoline, then either: a) If the old addr requires a trampoline, ftrace_modify_call() will use an out-of-range address to generate the 'old' branch instruction. This will result in warnings from aarch64_insn_gen_branch_imm() and ftrace_modify_code(), and no instructions will be modified. As ftrace_modify_call() will return an error, this will result in subsequent internal ftrace errors. b) If the old addr does not require a trampoline, but the new addr does, ftrace_modify_call() will use an out-of-range address to generate the 'new' branch instruction. This will result in warnings from aarch64_insn_gen_branch_imm(), and ftrace_modify_code() will replace the 'old' branch with a BRK. This will result in a kernel panic when this BRK is later executed. Practically speaking, case (a) is vastly more likely than case (b), and typically this will result in internal ftrace errors that don't necessarily affect the rest of the system. This can be demonstrated with an out-of-tree test module which triggers ftrace_modify_call(), e.g. | # insmod test_ftrace.ko | test_ftrace: Function test_function raw=0xffffb3749399201c, callsite=0xffffb37493992024 | branch_imm_common: offset out of range | branch_imm_common: offset out of range | ------------[ ftrace bug ]------------ | ftrace failed to modify | [<ffffb37493992024>] test_function+0x8/0x38 [test_ftrace] | actual: 1d:00:00:94 | Updating ftrace call site to call a different ftrace function | ftrace record flags: e0000002 | (2) R | expected tramp: ffffb374ae42ed54 | ------------[ cut here ]------------ | WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 165 at kernel/trace/ftrace.c:2085 ftrace_bug+0x280/0x2b0 | Modules linked in: test_ftrace(+) | CPU: 0 PID: 165 Comm: insmod Not tainted 5.19.0-rc2-00002-g4d9ead8b45ce #13 | Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT) | pstate: 60400005 (nZCv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) | pc : ftrace_bug+0x280/0x2b0 | lr : ftrace_bug+0x280/0x2b0 | sp : ffff80000839ba00 | x29: ffff80000839ba00 x28: 0000000000000000 x27: ffff80000839bcf0 | x26: ffffb37493994180 x25: ffffb374b0991c28 x24: ffffb374b0d70000 | x23: 00000000ffffffea x22: ffffb374afcc33b0 x21: ffffb374b08f9cc8 | x20: ffff572b8462c000 x19: ffffb374b08f9000 x18: ffffffffffffffff | x17: 6c6c6163202c6331 x16: ffffb374ae5ad110 x15: ffffb374b0d51ee4 | x14: 0000000000000000 x13: 3435646532346561 x12: 3437336266666666 | x11: 203a706d61727420 x10: 6465746365707865 x9 : ffffb374ae5149e8 | x8 : 336266666666203a x7 : 706d617274206465 x6 : 00000000fffff167 | x5 : ffff572bffbc4a08 x4 : 00000000fffff167 x3 : 0000000000000000 | x2 : 0000000000000000 x1 : ffff572b84461e00 x0 : 0000000000000022 | Call trace: | ftrace_bug+0x280/0x2b0 | ftrace_replace_code+0x98/0xa0 | ftrace_modify_all_code+0xe0/0x144 | arch_ftrace_update_code+0x14/0x20 | ftrace_startup+0xf8/0x1b0 | register_ftrace_function+0x38/0x90 | test_ftrace_init+0xd0/0x1000 [test_ftrace] | do_one_initcall+0x50/0x2b0 | do_init_module+0x50/0x1f0 | load_module+0x17c8/0x1d64 | __do_sys_finit_module+0xa8/0x100 | __arm64_sys_finit_module+0x2c/0x3c | invoke_syscall+0x50/0x120 | el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0xdc/0x100 | do_el0_svc+0x3c/0xd0 | el0_svc+0x34/0xb0 | el0t_64_sync_handler+0xbc/0x140 | el0t_64_sync+0x18c/0x190 | ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- We can solve this by consistently determining whether to use a PLT entry for an address. Note that since (the earlier) commit: f1a54ae9 ---truncated---

Published: 2025-02-26 Last update: 2025-10-24 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2022-49721 is rated Low Risk (30.7/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.08%). 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-2022-49721

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 2026-04-06 0.04% 0.08% +0.05%
2 2025-11-21 0.06% 0.04% -0.02%
3 2025-11-18 0.06%

Full EPSS history (6 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-49721

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-2022-49721

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-49721

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2022-49721 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-2022-49721
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-49721
suse medium https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-49721/
ubuntu medium CVE-2022-49721 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, ignored 146, not-affected 145, released 114, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-49721

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-49721

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
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-2022-49721

cvelogic Threat Intelligence