CVE-2022-50253 | bpf: make sure skb->len != 0 when redirecting to a tunneling device

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: make sure skb->len != 0 when redirecting to a tunneling device syzkaller managed to trigger another case where skb->len == 0 when we enter __dev_queue_xmit: WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 2470 at include/linux/skbuff.h:2576 skb_assert_len include/linux/skbuff.h:2576 [inline] WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 2470 at include/linux/skbuff.h:2576 __dev_queue_xmit+0x2069/0x35e0 net/core/dev.c:4295 Call Trace: dev_queue_xmit+0x17/0x20 net/core/dev.c:4406 __bpf_tx_skb net/core/filter.c:2115 [inline] __bpf_redirect_no_mac net/core/filter.c:2140 [inline] __bpf_redirect+0x5fb/0xda0 net/core/filter.c:2163 ____bpf_clone_redirect net/core/filter.c:2447 [inline] bpf_clone_redirect+0x247/0x390 net/core/filter.c:2419 bpf_prog_48159a89cb4a9a16+0x59/0x5e bpf_dispatcher_nop_func include/linux/bpf.h:897 [inline] __bpf_prog_run include/linux/filter.h:596 [inline] bpf_prog_run include/linux/filter.h:603 [inline] bpf_test_run+0x46c/0x890 net/bpf/test_run.c:402 bpf_prog_test_run_skb+0xbdc/0x14c0 net/bpf/test_run.c:1170 bpf_prog_test_run+0x345/0x3c0 kernel/bpf/syscall.c:3648 __sys_bpf+0x43a/0x6c0 kernel/bpf/syscall.c:5005 __do_sys_bpf kernel/bpf/syscall.c:5091 [inline] __se_sys_bpf kernel/bpf/syscall.c:5089 [inline] __x64_sys_bpf+0x7c/0x90 kernel/bpf/syscall.c:5089 do_syscall_64+0x54/0x70 arch/x86/entry/common.c:48 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x61/0xc6 The reproducer doesn't really reproduce outside of syzkaller environment, so I'm taking a guess here. It looks like we do generate correct ETH_HLEN-sized packet, but we redirect the packet to the tunneling device. Before we do so, we __skb_pull l2 header and arrive again at skb->len == 0. Doesn't seem like we can do anything better than having an explicit check after __skb_pull?

Published: 2025-09-15 Last update: 2025-11-26 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2022-50253 is rated Low Risk (23.6/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.15%). 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-2022-50253

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 2026-06-15 0.02% 0.15% +0.12%
2 2025-09-16 0.02%

Full EPSS history (2 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-50253

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-2022-50253

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-50253

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2022-50253 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-2022-50253
redhat low https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-50253
suse medium https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-50253/
ubuntu medium CVE-2022-50253 medium priority: Ubuntu including 158 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1414 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1017, ignored 161, released 150, not-affected 80, needed 5, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-50253

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-50253

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel < 4.14.303 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 4.15, < 4.19.270 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 4.20, < 5.4.229 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.5, < 5.10.163 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.15.86 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.0.16 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.1, < 6.1.2 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2022-50253

cvelogic Threat Intelligence