Linux Kernel up to 5.15.32/5.16.18/5.17.1 clk_hw_get_clk null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.32/5.16.18/5.17.1. It has been classified as critical. The impacted element is the function clk_hw_get_clk. The manipulation leads to null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2022-49187. There is not any exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.32/5.16.18/5.17.1 and classified as critical. This issue affects the function clk_hw_get_clk. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to 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. Impacted is availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: clk: Fix clk_hw_get_clk() when dev is NULL Any registered clk_core structure can have a NULL pointer in its dev field. While never actually documented, this is evidenced by the wide usage of clk_register and clk_hw_register with a NULL device pointer, and the fact that the core of_clk_hw_register() function also passes a NULL device pointer. A call to clk_hw_get_clk() on a clk_hw struct whose clk_core is in that case will result in a NULL pointer derefence when it calls dev_name() on that NULL device pointer. Add a test for this case and use NULL as the dev_id if the device pointer is NULL.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2022-49187 since 02/26/2025. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

Upgrading to version 5.15.33, 5.16.19 or 5.17.2 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 4be3e4c05d8dd1b83b75652cad88c9e752ec7054/d183f20cf5a7b546d4108e796b98210ceb317579/23f89fe005b105f0dcc55034c13eb89f9b570fac/0c1b56df451716ba207bbf59f303473643eee4fd 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
• 5.16.0
• 5.16.1
• 5.16.2
• 5.16.3
• 5.16.4
• 5.16.5
• 5.16.6
• 5.16.7
• 5.16.8
• 5.16.9
• 5.16.10
• 5.16.11
• 5.16.12
• 5.16.13
• 5.16.14
• 5.16.15
• 5.16.16
• 5.16.17
• 5.16.18
• 5.17.0
• 5.17.1

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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CPE 2.2info

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