Linux Kernel up to 5.15.53/5.17.13/5.18.2 secstrings memory corruption

CVSS Meta Temp Score
CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.
Current Exploit Price (≈)
Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.
CTI Interest Score
Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
6.2$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability identified as critical has been detected in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.53/5.17.13/5.18.2. Affected is the function secstrings. This manipulation causes memory corruption. This vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2022-49444. No exploit exists. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.53/5.17.13/5.18.2 and classified as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function secstrings. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a memory corruption vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-119. The product performs operations on a memory buffer, but it can read from or write to a memory location that is outside of the intended boundary of the buffer. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: module: fix [e_shstrndx].sh_size=0 OOB access It is trivial to craft a module to trigger OOB access in this line: if (info->secstrings[strhdr->sh_size - 1] != '\0') { BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: ffffc90000aa0fff PGD 100000067 P4D 100000067 PUD 100066067 PMD 10436f067 PTE 0 Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP PTI CPU: 7 PID: 1215 Comm: insmod Not tainted 5.18.0-rc5-00007-g9bf578647087-dirty #10 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.14.0-4.fc34 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:load_module+0x19b/0x2391 [rebased patch onto modules-next]

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2022-49444 since 02/26/2025. The exploitation appears to be easy. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 10/21/2025).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 237278 (Alibaba Cloud Linux 3 : 0075: cloud-kernel bugfix, enhancement and (ALINUX3-SA-2025:0075)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.15.54, 5.17.14 or 5.18.3 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 09cb6663618a74fe5572a4931ecbf098832e79ec/921630e2e5124a04158129a8f22f4b425e61a858/45a76414b6d8b8b39c23fea53b9d20e831ae72a0/391e982bfa632b8315235d8be9c0a81374c6a19c is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (237278). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

License

Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 6.3
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 6.2

VulDB Base Score: 5.5
VulDB Temp Score: 5.3
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 7.1
NVD Vector: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Memory corruption
CWE: CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: Partially

Availability: 🔍
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

0-DayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
TodayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

Nessus ID: 237278
Nessus Name: Alibaba Cloud Linux 3 : 0075: cloud-kernel bugfix, enhancement and (ALINUX3-SA-2025:0075)

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍

Upgrade: Kernel 5.15.54/5.17.14/5.18.3
Patch: 09cb6663618a74fe5572a4931ecbf098832e79ec/921630e2e5124a04158129a8f22f4b425e61a858/45a76414b6d8b8b39c23fea53b9d20e831ae72a0/391e982bfa632b8315235d8be9c0a81374c6a19c

Timelineinfo

02/26/2025 🔍
02/26/2025 +0 days 🔍
02/26/2025 +0 days 🔍
10/21/2025 +237 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2022-49444 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2022-49444
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-296977

Entryinfo

Created: 02/26/2025 09:09
Updated: 10/21/2025 20:02
Changes: 02/26/2025 09:09 (23), 02/26/2025 09:12 (35), 05/27/2025 13:36 (2), 10/21/2025 20:02 (12)
Complete: 🔍
Committer: sany
Cache ID: 216::103

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Discussion

No comments yet. Languages: en.

Please log in to comment.

◂ PreviousOverviewNext ▸

Want to know what is going to be exploited?

We predict KEV entries!