Linux Kernel up to 5.17.3 free_irq_cpu_rmap use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.17.3. It has been rated as critical. This impacts the function free_irq_cpu_rmap. Performing a manipulation results in use after free. This vulnerability is cataloged as CVE-2022-49063. There is no exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.17.3. It has been classified as critical. This affects the function free_irq_cpu_rmap. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ice: arfs: fix use-after-free when freeing @rx_cpu_rmap The CI testing bots triggered the following splat: [ 718.203054] BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in free_irq_cpu_rmap+0x53/0x80 [ 718.206349] Read of size 4 at addr ffff8881bd127e00 by task sh/20834 [ 718.212852] CPU: 28 PID: 20834 Comm: sh Kdump: loaded Tainted: G S W IOE 5.17.0-rc8_nextqueue-devqueue-02643-g23f3121aca93 #1 [ 718.219695] Hardware name: Intel Corporation S2600WFT/S2600WFT, BIOS SE5C620.86B.02.01.0012.070720200218 07/07/2020 [ 718.223418] Call Trace: [ 718.227139] [ 718.230783] dump_stack_lvl+0x33/0x42 [ 718.234431] print_address_description.constprop.9+0x21/0x170 [ 718.238177] ? free_irq_cpu_rmap+0x53/0x80 [ 718.241885] ? free_irq_cpu_rmap+0x53/0x80 [ 718.245539] kasan_report.cold.18+0x7f/0x11b [ 718.249197] ? free_irq_cpu_rmap+0x53/0x80 [ 718.252852] free_irq_cpu_rmap+0x53/0x80 [ 718.256471] ice_free_cpu_rx_rmap.part.11+0x37/0x50 [ice] [ 718.260174] ice_remove_arfs+0x5f/0x70 [ice] [ 718.263810] ice_rebuild_arfs+0x3b/0x70 [ice] [ 718.267419] ice_rebuild+0x39c/0xb60 [ice] [ 718.270974] ? asm_sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt+0x12/0x20 [ 718.274472] ? ice_init_phy_user_cfg+0x360/0x360 [ice] [ 718.278033] ? delay_tsc+0x4a/0xb0 [ 718.281513] ? preempt_count_sub+0x14/0xc0 [ 718.284984] ? delay_tsc+0x8f/0xb0 [ 718.288463] ice_do_reset+0x92/0xf0 [ice] [ 718.292014] ice_pci_err_resume+0x91/0xf0 [ice] [ 718.295561] pci_reset_function+0x53/0x80 <...> [ 718.393035] Allocated by task 690: [ 718.433497] Freed by task 20834: [ 718.495688] Last potentially related work creation: [ 718.568966] The buggy address belongs to the object at ffff8881bd127e00 which belongs to the cache kmalloc-96 of size 96 [ 718.574085] The buggy address is located 0 bytes inside of 96-byte region [ffff8881bd127e00, ffff8881bd127e60) [ 718.579265] The buggy address belongs to the page: [ 718.598905] Memory state around the buggy address: [ 718.601809] ffff8881bd127d00: fa fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fc fc fc fc [ 718.604796] ffff8881bd127d80: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 fc fc fc fc fc fc [ 718.607794] >ffff8881bd127e00: fa fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fc fc fc fc [ 718.610811] ^ [ 718.613819] ffff8881bd127e80: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 fc fc fc fc [ 718.617107] ffff8881bd127f00: fa fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fc fc fc fc This is due to that free_irq_cpu_rmap() is always being called *after* (devm_)free_irq() and thus it tries to work with IRQ descs already freed. For example, on device reset the driver frees the rmap right before allocating a new one (the splat above). Make rmap creation and freeing function symmetrical with {request,free}_irq() calls i.e. do that on ifup/ifdown instead of device probe/remove/resume. These operations can be performed independently from the actual device aRFS configuration. Also, make sure ice_vsi_free_irq() clears IRQ affinity notifiers only when aRFS is disabled -- otherwise, CPU rmap sets and clears its own and they must not be touched manually.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2022-49063 since 02/26/2025. The exploitability is told to be easy. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 11/18/2025).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 237513 (Amazon Linux 2 : kernel (ALASKERNEL-5.10-2025-093)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.17.4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch d08d2fb6d99d82da1c63aba5c0d1c6f237e150f3/d7442f512b71fc63a99c8a801422dde4fbbf9f93 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 databases at Tenable (237513) and EUVD (EUVD-2022-55141). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.17.0
• 5.17.1
• 5.17.2
• 5.17.3

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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Entryinfo

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