CVE-2022-49943 | USB: gadget: Fix obscure lockdep violation for udc_mutex

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: USB: gadget: Fix obscure lockdep violation for udc_mutex A recent commit expanding the scope of the udc_lock mutex in the gadget core managed to cause an obscure and slightly bizarre lockdep violation. In abbreviated form: ====================================================== WARNING: possible circular locking dependency detected 5.19.0-rc7+ #12510 Not tainted ------------------------------------------------------ udevadm/312 is trying to acquire lock: ffff80000aae1058 (udc_lock){+.+.}-{3:3}, at: usb_udc_uevent+0x54/0xe0 but task is already holding lock: ffff000002277548 (kn->active#4){++++}-{0:0}, at: kernfs_seq_start+0x34/0xe0 which lock already depends on the new lock. the existing dependency chain (in reverse order) is: -> #3 (kn->active#4){++++}-{0:0}:        lock_acquire+0x68/0x84        __kernfs_remove+0x268/0x380        kernfs_remove_by_name_ns+0x58/0xac        sysfs_remove_file_ns+0x18/0x24        device_del+0x15c/0x440 -> #2 (device_links_lock){+.+.}-{3:3}:        lock_acquire+0x68/0x84        __mutex_lock+0x9c/0x430        mutex_lock_nested+0x38/0x64        device_link_remove+0x3c/0xa0        _regulator_put.part.0+0x168/0x190        regulator_put+0x3c/0x54        devm_regulator_release+0x14/0x20 -> #1 (regulator_list_mutex){+.+.}-{3:3}:        lock_acquire+0x68/0x84        __mutex_lock+0x9c/0x430        mutex_lock_nested+0x38/0x64        regulator_lock_dependent+0x54/0x284        regulator_enable+0x34/0x80        phy_power_on+0x24/0x130        __dwc2_lowlevel_hw_enable+0x100/0x130        dwc2_lowlevel_hw_enable+0x18/0x40        dwc2_hsotg_udc_start+0x6c/0x2f0        gadget_bind_driver+0x124/0x1f4 -> #0 (udc_lock){+.+.}-{3:3}:        __lock_acquire+0x1298/0x20cc        lock_acquire.part.0+0xe0/0x230        lock_acquire+0x68/0x84        __mutex_lock+0x9c/0x430        mutex_lock_nested+0x38/0x64        usb_udc_uevent+0x54/0xe0 Evidently this was caused by the scope of udc_mutex being too large. The mutex is only meant to protect udc->driver along with a few other things. As far as I can tell, there's no reason for the mutex to be held while the gadget core calls a gadget driver's ->bind or ->unbind routine, or while a UDC is being started or stopped. (This accounts for link #1 in the chain above, where the mutex is held while the dwc2_hsotg_udc is started as part of driver probing.) Gadget drivers' ->disconnect callbacks are problematic. Even though usb_gadget_disconnect() will now acquire the udc_mutex, there's a window in usb_gadget_bind_driver() between the times when the mutex is released and the ->bind callback is invoked. If a disconnect occurred during that window, we could call the driver's ->disconnect routine before its ->bind routine. To prevent this from happening, it will be necessary to prevent a UDC from connecting while it has no gadget driver. This should be done already but it doesn't seem to be; currently usb_gadget_connect() has no check for this. Such a check will have to be added later. Some degree of mutual exclusion is required in soft_connect_store(), which can dereference udc->driver at arbitrary times since it is a sysfs callback. The solution here is to acquire the gadget's device lock rather than the udc_mutex. Since the driver core guarantees that the device lock is always held during driver binding and unbinding, this will make the accesses in soft_connect_store() mutually exclusive with any changes to udc->driver. Lastly, it turns out there is one place which should hold the udc_mutex but currently does not: The function_show() routine needs protection while it dereferences udc->driver. The missing lock and unlock calls are added.

Published: 2025-06-18 Last update: 2025-11-14 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2022-49943 is rated Low Risk (28.2/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.06%). 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-2022-49943

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 2026-04-14 0.02% 0.06% +0.04%
2 2025-06-18 0.02%

Full EPSS history (2 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-49943

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-2022-49943

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-49943

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2022-49943 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-2022-49943
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-49943
suse medium https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-49943/
ubuntu medium CVE-2022-49943 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 151, released 92, not-affected 88, needed 75. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-49943

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-49943

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel 5.19.7 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.19.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.0 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.0 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.0 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.0:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2022-49943

cvelogic Threat Intelligence