CVE-2022-49932 [Medium] | Security Bypass in Linux Kernel

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: VMX: Do _all_ initialization before exposing /dev/kvm to userspace Call kvm_init() only after _all_ setup is complete, as kvm_init() exposes /dev/kvm to userspace and thus allows userspace to create VMs (and call other ioctls). E.g. KVM will encounter a NULL pointer when attempting to add a vCPU to the per-CPU loaded_vmcss_on_cpu list if userspace is able to create a VM before vmx_init() configures said list. BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000008 #PF: supervisor write access in kernel mode #PF: error_code(0x0002) - not-present page PGD 0 P4D 0 Oops: 0002 [#1] SMP CPU: 6 PID: 1143 Comm: stable Not tainted 6.0.0-rc7+ #988 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 0.0.0 02/06/2015 RIP: 0010:vmx_vcpu_load_vmcs+0x68/0x230 [kvm_intel] <TASK> vmx_vcpu_load+0x16/0x60 [kvm_intel] kvm_arch_vcpu_load+0x32/0x1f0 [kvm] vcpu_load+0x2f/0x40 [kvm] kvm_arch_vcpu_create+0x231/0x310 [kvm] kvm_vm_ioctl+0x79f/0xe10 [kvm] ? handle_mm_fault+0xb1/0x220 __x64_sys_ioctl+0x80/0xb0 do_syscall_64+0x2b/0x50 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0 RIP: 0033:0x7f5a6b05743b </TASK> Modules linked in: vhost_net vhost vhost_iotlb tap kvm_intel(+) kvm irqbypass

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2025-05-03	—	0.02%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2025-05-03

—

0.02%

—

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]

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]

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-49932

vendor	priority	summary	link
`debian`	not yet assigned	CVE-2022-49932 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-2022-49932
`redhat`	medium	—	https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-49932
`suse`	medium	CVE-2022-49932 severity moderate: SUSE including 22 source package names (cluster-md-kmp-default, dlm-kmp-default, …), 125 product×package rows across 25 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP6, SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7, … (25 product lines)): Known Not Affected 125.	https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-49932/
`ubuntu`	medium	CVE-2022-49932 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 150, released 92, not-affected 89, needed 75.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-49932

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-49932

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
linux	linux_kernel	< 6.1.20	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 6.2, < 6.2.7	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::

References for CVE-2022-49932

URL	Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e136e969d268b9b89329c816c002e53f60e82985	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e28533c08023c4b319b7f2cd77f3f7c9204eb517	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e32b120071ea114efc0b4ddd439547750b85f618	Patch

URL

CVE-2022-49932 | KVM: VMX: Do _all_ initialization before exposing /dev/kvm to userspace

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2022-49932

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-49932

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2022-49932

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-49932

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-49932

References for CVE-2022-49932