Linux Kernel up to 5.10.120/5.15.45/5.17.13/5.18.2 on CPU2 call_rcu_tasks_rude cpus_read_[lock/unlock] state issue

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability identified as problematic has been detected in Linux Kernel up to 5.10.120/5.15.45/5.17.13/5.18.2 on CPU2. Impacted is the function call_rcu_tasks_rude. This manipulation of the argument cpus_read_[lock/unlock] causes state issue. This vulnerability appears as CVE-2022-49540. There is no available exploit. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.10.120/5.15.45/5.17.13/5.18.2 on CPU2. It has been declared as problematic. Affected by this vulnerability is the function call_rcu_tasks_rude. The manipulation of the argument cpus_read_[lock/unlock] with an unknown input leads to a state issue vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-371. The impact remains unknown. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: rcu-tasks: Fix race in schedule and flush work While booting secondary CPUs, cpus_read_[lock/unlock] is not keeping online cpumask stable. The transient online mask results in below calltrace. [ 0.324121] CPU1: Booted secondary processor 0x0000000001 [0x410fd083] [ 0.346652] Detected PIPT I-cache on CPU2 [ 0.347212] CPU2: Booted secondary processor 0x0000000002 [0x410fd083] [ 0.377255] Detected PIPT I-cache on CPU3 [ 0.377823] CPU3: Booted secondary processor 0x0000000003 [0x410fd083] [ 0.379040] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [ 0.383662] WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 10 at kernel/workqueue.c:3084 __flush_work+0x12c/0x138 [ 0.384850] Modules linked in: [ 0.385403] CPU: 0 PID: 10 Comm: rcu_tasks_rude_ Not tainted 5.17.0-rc3-v8+ #13 [ 0.386473] Hardware name: Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Rev 1.4 (DT) [ 0.387289] pstate: 20000005 (nzCv daif -PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) [ 0.388308] pc : __flush_work+0x12c/0x138 [ 0.388970] lr : __flush_work+0x80/0x138 [ 0.389620] sp : ffffffc00aaf3c60 [ 0.390139] x29: ffffffc00aaf3d20 x28: ffffffc009c16af0 x27: ffffff80f761df48 [ 0.391316] x26: 0000000000000004 x25: 0000000000000003 x24: 0000000000000100 [ 0.392493] x23: ffffffffffffffff x22: ffffffc009c16b10 x21: ffffffc009c16b28 [ 0.393668] x20: ffffffc009e53861 x19: ffffff80f77fbf40 x18: 00000000d744fcc9 [ 0.394842] x17: 000000000000000b x16: 00000000000001c2 x15: ffffffc009e57550 [ 0.396016] x14: 0000000000000000 x13: ffffffffffffffff x12: 0000000100000000 [ 0.397190] x11: 0000000000000462 x10: ffffff8040258008 x9 : 0000000100000000 [ 0.398364] x8 : 0000000000000000 x7 : ffffffc0093c8bf4 x6 : 0000000000000000 [ 0.399538] x5 : 0000000000000000 x4 : ffffffc00a976e40 x3 : ffffffc00810444c [ 0.400711] x2 : 0000000000000004 x1 : 0000000000000000 x0 : 0000000000000000 [ 0.401886] Call trace: [ 0.402309] __flush_work+0x12c/0x138 [ 0.402941] schedule_on_each_cpu+0x228/0x278 [ 0.403693] rcu_tasks_rude_wait_gp+0x130/0x144 [ 0.404502] rcu_tasks_kthread+0x220/0x254 [ 0.405264] kthread+0x174/0x1ac [ 0.405837] ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 [ 0.406456] irq event stamp: 102 [ 0.406966] hardirqs last enabled at (101): [] _raw_spin_unlock_irq+0x78/0xb4 [ 0.408304] hardirqs last disabled at (102): [] el1_dbg+0x24/0x5c [ 0.409410] softirqs last enabled at (54): [] local_bh_enable+0xc/0x2c [ 0.410645] softirqs last disabled at (50): [] local_bh_disable+0xc/0x2c [ 0.411890] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- [ 0.413000] smp: Brought up 1 node, 4 CPUs [ 0.413762] SMP: Total of 4 processors activated. [ 0.414566] CPU features: detected: 32-bit EL0 Support [ 0.415414] CPU features: detected: 32-bit EL1 Support [ 0.416278] CPU features: detected: CRC32 instructions [ 0.447021] Callback from call_rcu_tasks_rude() invoked. [ 0.506693] Callback from call_rcu_tasks() invoked. This commit therefore fixes this issue by applying a single-CPU optimization to the RCU Tasks Rude grace-period process. The key point here is that the purpose of this RCU flavor is to force a schedule on each online CPU since some past event. But the rcu_tasks_rude_wait_gp() function runs in the context of the RCU Tasks Rude's grace-period kthread, so there must already have been a context switch on the current CPU since the call to either synchronize_rcu_tasks_rude() or call_rcu_tasks_rude(). So if there is only a single CPU online, RCU Tasks Rude's grace-period kthread does not need to anything at all. It turns out that the rcu_tasks_rude_wait_gp() function's call to schedule_on_each_cpu() causes problems during early boot. During that time, there is only one online CPU, namely the boot CPU. Therefore, applying this single-CPU optimization fixes early-boot instances of this problem.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2022-49540 since 02/26/2025. The exploitation appears to be difficult. 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 241018 (EulerOS 2.0 SP13 : kernel (EulerOS-SA-2025-1704)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.10.121, 5.15.46, 5.17.14 or 5.18.3 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 1c6c3f2336642fb3074593911f5176565f47ec41/ba722d061bc4b54802d701fc63fc2fd988934603/230bf5878af6038dfb63d9184272a58475236580/8f49a8758b5cd541bd7aa9a0d0d11c7426141c0e/f75fd4b9221d93177c50dcfde671b2e907f53e86 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 (241018). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.10.120
• 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
• 5.17.0
• 5.17.1
• 5.17.2
• 5.17.3
• 5.17.4
• 5.17.5
• 5.17.6
• 5.17.7
• 5.17.8
• 5.17.9
• 5.17.10
• 5.17.11
• 5.17.12
• 5.17.13
• 5.18.0
• 5.18.1
• 5.18.2

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

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

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