Linux Kernel up to 5.15.50/5.18.7 xen-blkfront null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability described as problematic has been identified in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.50/5.18.7. The affected element is an unknown function of the component xen-blkfront. The manipulation results in null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is cataloged as CVE-2022-49689. There is no exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.50/5.18.7. It has been classified as problematic. Affected is an unknown code block of the component xen-blkfront. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-476. A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the application dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid, but is NULL, typically causing a crash or exit. This is going to have an impact on availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xen-blkfront: Handle NULL gendisk When a VBD is not fully created and then closed, the kernel can have a NULL pointer dereference: The reproducer is trivial: [user@dom0 ~]$ sudo xl block-attach work backend=sys-usb vdev=xvdi target=/dev/sdz [user@dom0 ~]$ xl block-list work Vdev BE handle state evt-ch ring-ref BE-path 51712 0 241 4 -1 -1 /local/domain/0/backend/vbd/241/51712 51728 0 241 4 -1 -1 /local/domain/0/backend/vbd/241/51728 51744 0 241 4 -1 -1 /local/domain/0/backend/vbd/241/51744 51760 0 241 4 -1 -1 /local/domain/0/backend/vbd/241/51760 51840 3 241 3 -1 -1 /local/domain/3/backend/vbd/241/51840 ^ note state, the /dev/sdz doesn't exist in the backend [user@dom0 ~]$ sudo xl block-detach work xvdi [user@dom0 ~]$ xl block-list work Vdev BE handle state evt-ch ring-ref BE-path work is an invalid domain identifier And its console has: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000050 PGD 80000000edebb067 P4D 80000000edebb067 PUD edec2067 PMD 0 Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP PTI CPU: 1 PID: 52 Comm: xenwatch Not tainted 5.16.18-2.43.fc32.qubes.x86_64 #1 RIP: 0010:blk_mq_stop_hw_queues+0x5/0x40 Code: 00 48 83 e0 fd 83 c3 01 48 89 85 a8 00 00 00 41 39 5c 24 50 77 c0 5b 5d 41 5c 41 5d c3 c3 0f 1f 80 00 00 00 00 0f 1f 44 00 00 47 50 85 c0 74 32 41 54 49 89 fc 55 53 31 db 49 8b 44 24 48 48 RSP: 0018:ffffc90000bcfe98 EFLAGS: 00010293 RAX: ffffffffc0008370 RBX: 0000000000000005 RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000005 RDI: 0000000000000000 RBP: ffff88800775f000 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: ffff888006e620b8 R10: ffff888006e620b0 R11: f000000000000000 R12: ffff8880bff39000 R13: ffff8880bff39000 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: ffff88800604be00 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8880f3300000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000000000000050 CR3: 00000000e932e002 CR4: 00000000003706e0 Call Trace: blkback_changed+0x95/0x137 [xen_blkfront] ? read_reply+0x160/0x160 xenwatch_thread+0xc0/0x1a0 ? do_wait_intr_irq+0xa0/0xa0 kthread+0x16b/0x190 ? set_kthread_struct+0x40/0x40 ret_from_fork+0x22/0x30 Modules linked in: snd_seq_dummy snd_hrtimer snd_seq snd_seq_device snd_timer snd soundcore ipt_REJECT nf_reject_ipv4 xt_state xt_conntrack nft_counter nft_chain_nat xt_MASQUERADE nf_nat nf_conntrack nf_defrag_ipv6 nf_defrag_ipv4 nft_compat nf_tables nfnetlink intel_rapl_msr intel_rapl_common crct10dif_pclmul crc32_pclmul crc32c_intel ghash_clmulni_intel xen_netfront pcspkr xen_scsiback target_core_mod xen_netback xen_privcmd xen_gntdev xen_gntalloc xen_blkback xen_evtchn ipmi_devintf ipmi_msghandler fuse bpf_preload ip_tables overlay xen_blkfront CR2: 0000000000000050 ---[ end trace 7bc9597fd06ae89d ]--- RIP: 0010:blk_mq_stop_hw_queues+0x5/0x40 Code: 00 48 83 e0 fd 83 c3 01 48 89 85 a8 00 00 00 41 39 5c 24 50 77 c0 5b 5d 41 5c 41 5d c3 c3 0f 1f 80 00 00 00 00 0f 1f 44 00 00 47 50 85 c0 74 32 41 54 49 89 fc 55 53 31 db 49 8b 44 24 48 48 RSP: 0018:ffffc90000bcfe98 EFLAGS: 00010293 RAX: ffffffffc0008370 RBX: 0000000000000005 RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000005 RDI: 0000000000000000 RBP: ffff88800775f000 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: ffff888006e620b8 R10: ffff888006e620b0 R11: f000000000000000 R12: ffff8880bff39000 R13: ffff8880bff39000 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: ffff88800604be00 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8880f3300000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000000000000050 CR3: 00000000e932e002 CR4: 00000000003706e0 Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception Kernel Offset: disabled info->rq and info->gd are only set in blkfront_connect(), which is called for state 4 (XenbusStateConnected). Guard against using NULL variables in blkfront_closing() to avoid ---truncated---

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2022-49689 since 02/26/2025. The exploitability is told to be difficult. There are neither technical details nor an exploit publicly available.

Upgrading to version 5.15.51 or 5.18.8 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch ffa12a326415dfe5fc21e66d9d2b86896b4c9eaf/db403bc872af09360f5c80f83dc3b360f0be49af/f9710c357e5bbf64d7ce45ba0bc75a52222491c1 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.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.15.0
• 5.15.1
• 5.15.2
• 5.15.3
• 5.15.4
• 5.15.5
• 5.15.6
• 5.15.7
• 5.15.8
• 5.15.9
• 5.15.10
• 5.15.11
• 5.15.12
• 5.15.13
• 5.15.14
• 5.15.15
• 5.15.16
• 5.15.17
• 5.15.18
• 5.15.19
• 5.15.20
• 5.15.21
• 5.15.22
• 5.15.23
• 5.15.24
• 5.15.25
• 5.15.26
• 5.15.27
• 5.15.28
• 5.15.29
• 5.15.30
• 5.15.31
• 5.15.32
• 5.15.33
• 5.15.34
• 5.15.35
• 5.15.36
• 5.15.37
• 5.15.38
• 5.15.39
• 5.15.40
• 5.15.41
• 5.15.42
• 5.15.43
• 5.15.44
• 5.15.45
• 5.15.46
• 5.15.47
• 5.15.48
• 5.15.49
• 5.15.50
• 5.18.0
• 5.18.1
• 5.18.2
• 5.18.3
• 5.18.4
• 5.18.5
• 5.18.6
• 5.18.7

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

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