CVE-2022-49888 | arm64: entry: avoid kprobe recursion

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: arm64: entry: avoid kprobe recursion The cortex_a76_erratum_1463225_debug_handler() function is called when handling debug exceptions (and synchronous exceptions from BRK instructions), and so is called when a probed function executes. If the compiler does not inline cortex_a76_erratum_1463225_debug_handler(), it can be probed. If cortex_a76_erratum_1463225_debug_handler() is probed, any debug exception or software breakpoint exception will result in recursive exceptions leading to a stack overflow. This can be triggered with the ftrace multiple_probes selftest, and as per the example splat below. This is a regression caused by commit: 6459b8469753e9fe ("arm64: entry: consolidate Cortex-A76 erratum 1463225 workaround") ... which removed the NOKPROBE_SYMBOL() annotation associated with the function. My intent was that cortex_a76_erratum_1463225_debug_handler() would be inlined into its caller, el1_dbg(), which is marked noinstr and cannot be probed. Mark cortex_a76_erratum_1463225_debug_handler() as __always_inline to ensure this. Example splat prior to this patch (with recursive entries elided): | # echo p cortex_a76_erratum_1463225_debug_handler > /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/kprobe_events | # echo p do_el0_svc >> /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/kprobe_events | # echo 1 > /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/kprobes/enable | Insufficient stack space to handle exception! | ESR: 0x0000000096000047 -- DABT (current EL) | FAR: 0xffff800009cefff0 | Task stack: [0xffff800009cf0000..0xffff800009cf4000] | IRQ stack: [0xffff800008000000..0xffff800008004000] | Overflow stack: [0xffff00007fbc00f0..0xffff00007fbc10f0] | CPU: 0 PID: 145 Comm: sh Not tainted 6.0.0 #2 | Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT) | pstate: 604003c5 (nZCv DAIF +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) | pc : arm64_enter_el1_dbg+0x4/0x20 | lr : el1_dbg+0x24/0x5c | sp : ffff800009cf0000 | x29: ffff800009cf0000 x28: ffff000002c74740 x27: 0000000000000000 | x26: 0000000000000000 x25: 0000000000000000 x24: 0000000000000000 | x23: 00000000604003c5 x22: ffff80000801745c x21: 0000aaaac95ac068 | x20: 00000000f2000004 x19: ffff800009cf0040 x18: 0000000000000000 | x17: 0000000000000000 x16: 0000000000000000 x15: 0000000000000000 | x14: 0000000000000000 x13: 0000000000000000 x12: 0000000000000000 | x11: 0000000000000010 x10: ffff800008c87190 x9 : ffff800008ca00d0 | x8 : 000000000000003c x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 : 0000000000000000 | x5 : 0000000000000000 x4 : 0000000000000000 x3 : 00000000000043a4 | x2 : 00000000f2000004 x1 : 00000000f2000004 x0 : ffff800009cf0040 | Kernel panic - not syncing: kernel stack overflow | CPU: 0 PID: 145 Comm: sh Not tainted 6.0.0 #2 | Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT) | Call trace: | dump_backtrace+0xe4/0x104 | show_stack+0x18/0x4c | dump_stack_lvl+0x64/0x7c | dump_stack+0x18/0x38 | panic+0x14c/0x338 | test_taint+0x0/0x2c | panic_bad_stack+0x104/0x118 | handle_bad_stack+0x34/0x48 | __bad_stack+0x78/0x7c | arm64_enter_el1_dbg+0x4/0x20 | el1h_64_sync_handler+0x40/0x98 | el1h_64_sync+0x64/0x68 | cortex_a76_erratum_1463225_debug_handler+0x0/0x34 ... | el1h_64_sync_handler+0x40/0x98 | el1h_64_sync+0x64/0x68 | cortex_a76_erratum_1463225_debug_handler+0x0/0x34 ... | el1h_64_sync_handler+0x40/0x98 | el1h_64_sync+0x64/0x68 | cortex_a76_erratum_1463225_debug_handler+0x0/0x34 | el1h_64_sync_handler+0x40/0x98 | el1h_64_sync+0x64/0x68 | do_el0_svc+0x0/0x28 | el0t_64_sync_handler+0x84/0xf0 | el0t_64_sync+0x18c/0x190 | Kernel Offset: disabled | CPU features: 0x0080,00005021,19001080 | Memory Limit: none | ---[ end Kernel panic - not syncing: kernel stack overflow ]--- With this patch, cortex_a76_erratum_1463225_debug_handler() is inlined into el1_dbg(), and el1_dbg() cannot be probed: | # echo p cortex_a76_erratum_1463225_debug_handler > /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/kprobe_events | sh: write error: No such file or directory | # grep -w cortex_a76_errat ---truncated---

Published: 2025-05-01 Last update: 2025-05-07 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2022-49888 is rated Low Risk (33.2/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). 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-2022-49888

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 2026-06-10 0.08% 0.02% -0.06%
2 2026-06-09 0.04% 0.08% +0.04%
3 2025-09-27 0.04%

Full EPSS history (5 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-49888

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 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2022-49888

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-49888

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2022-49888 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-2022-49888
redhat low https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-49888
suse medium https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-49888/
ubuntu medium CVE-2022-49888 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-2022-49888

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-49888

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 5.12, < 5.15.78 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.0.8 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.1 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.1:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.1 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.1:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.1 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.1:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2022-49888

cvelogic Threat Intelligence