Linux Kernel up to 5.4.224/5.10.155/5.15.79/6.0.9 __unregister_kprobe_top use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.4.224/5.10.155/5.15.79/6.0.9. It has been declared as critical. The affected element is the function __unregister_kprobe_top. Executing a manipulation can lead to use after free. This vulnerability appears as CVE-2022-49779. There is no available exploit. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.4.224/5.10.155/5.15.79/6.0.9. This vulnerability affects the function __unregister_kprobe_top. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: kprobes: Skip clearing aggrprobe's post_handler in kprobe-on-ftrace case In __unregister_kprobe_top(), if the currently unregistered probe has post_handler but other child probes of the aggrprobe do not have post_handler, the post_handler of the aggrprobe is cleared. If this is a ftrace-based probe, there is a problem. In later calls to disarm_kprobe(), we will use kprobe_ftrace_ops because post_handler is NULL. But we're armed with kprobe_ipmodify_ops. This triggers a WARN in __disarm_kprobe_ftrace() and may even cause use-after-free: Failed to disarm kprobe-ftrace at kernel_clone+0x0/0x3c0 (error -2) WARNING: CPU: 5 PID: 137 at kernel/kprobes.c:1135 __disarm_kprobe_ftrace.isra.21+0xcf/0xe0 Modules linked in: testKprobe_007(-) CPU: 5 PID: 137 Comm: rmmod Not tainted 6.1.0-rc4-dirty #18 [...] Call Trace: <TASK> __disable_kprobe+0xcd/0xe0 __unregister_kprobe_top+0x12/0x150 ? mutex_lock+0xe/0x30 unregister_kprobes.part.23+0x31/0xa0 unregister_kprobe+0x32/0x40 __x64_sys_delete_module+0x15e/0x260 ? do_user_addr_fault+0x2cd/0x6b0 do_syscall_64+0x3a/0x90 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd [...] For the kprobe-on-ftrace case, we keep the post_handler setting to identify this aggrprobe armed with kprobe_ipmodify_ops. This way we can disarm it correctly.

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability was named CVE-2022-49779 since 04/16/2025. The exploitation appears to be easy. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $0-$5k (estimation calculated on 11/07/2025).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 249320 (EulerOS 2.0 SP13 : kernel (EulerOS-SA-2025-1979)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.4.225, 5.10.156, 5.15.80 or 6.0.10 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 7b0007b28dd970176f2e297c06ae63eea2447127/7d606ae1abcc3eab5408e42444d789dc7def51b8/c49cc2c059b503e962c2f13a806c105f9b757df4/55788ebbe8b365b4375bd56b4ba7db79d393a370/5dd7caf0bdc5d0bae7cf9776b4d739fb09bd5ebb 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 (249320). VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.4.224
• 5.10.155
• 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
• 5.15.51
• 5.15.52
• 5.15.53
• 5.15.54
• 5.15.55
• 5.15.56
• 5.15.57
• 5.15.58
• 5.15.59
• 5.15.60
• 5.15.61
• 5.15.62
• 5.15.63
• 5.15.64
• 5.15.65
• 5.15.66
• 5.15.67
• 5.15.68
• 5.15.69
• 5.15.70
• 5.15.71
• 5.15.72
• 5.15.73
• 5.15.74
• 5.15.75
• 5.15.76
• 5.15.77
• 5.15.78
• 5.15.79
• 6.0.0
• 6.0.1
• 6.0.2
• 6.0.3
• 6.0.4
• 6.0.5
• 6.0.6
• 6.0.7
• 6.0.8
• 6.0.9

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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Entryinfo

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