Linux Kernel up to 5.19.7 ieee802154_unregister_hw use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Linux Kernel up to 4.19.257/5.4.212/5.10.141/5.15.65/5.19.7. Affected is the function ieee802154_unregister_hw. Executing a manipulation can lead to use after free. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2022-49968. There is not any exploit available. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 4.19.257/5.4.212/5.10.141/5.15.65/5.19.7 and classified as critical. This vulnerability affects the function ieee802154_unregister_hw. 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: ieee802154/adf7242: defer destroy_workqueue call There is a possible race condition (use-after-free) like below (FREE) | (USE) adf7242_remove | adf7242_channel cancel_delayed_work_sync | destroy_workqueue (1) | adf7242_cmd_rx | mod_delayed_work (2) | The root cause for this race is that the upper layer (ieee802154) is unaware of this detaching event and the function adf7242_channel can be called without any checks. To fix this, we can add a flag write at the beginning of adf7242_remove and add flag check in adf7242_channel. Or we can just defer the destructive operation like other commit 3e0588c291d6 ("hamradio: defer ax25 kfree after unregister_netdev") which let the ieee802154_unregister_hw() to handle the synchronization. This patch takes the second option. runs")

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability was named CVE-2022-49968 since 06/18/2025. 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 11/30/2025).

Upgrading to version 4.19.258, 5.4.213, 5.10.142, 5.15.66 or 5.19.8 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch dede80aaf01f4b6e8657d23726cb4a3da226ec4c/bed12d7531df1417fc92c691999ff95e03835008/23a29932715ca43bceb2eae1bdb770995afe7271/9f8558c5c642c62c450c98c99b7d18a709fff485/15f3b89bd521d5770d36a61fc04a77c293138ba6/afe7116f6d3b888778ed6d95e3cf724767b9aedf 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 CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-1350). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Dell Avamar
• Dell NetWorker
• Dell Secure Connect Gateway
• IBM QRadar SIEM

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 4.19.257
• 5.4.212
• 5.10.141
• 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
• 5.19.0
• 5.19.1
• 5.19.2
• 5.19.3
• 5.19.4
• 5.19.5
• 5.19.6
• 5.19.7

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔍
• 🔍
• 🔍

CPE 2.2info

• 🔍
• 🔍
• 🔍

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Discussion