Linux Kernel up to fbf979564682edf1b727d4b6620ca70c59f4ee62 tty kernel/printk/printk.c in_atomic control flow

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel. It has been classified as problematic. This affects the function in_atomic of the file kernel/printk/printk.c of the component tty. This manipulation causes control flow. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2022-49941. There is no exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel. It has been declared as problematic. Affected by this vulnerability is the function in_atomic of the file kernel/printk/printk.c of the component tty. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a control flow vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-670. The code contains a control flow path that does not reflect the algorithm that the path is intended to implement, leading to incorrect behavior any time this path is navigated. The impact remains unknown. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tty: n_gsm: avoid call of sleeping functions from atomic context Syzkaller reports the following problem: BUG: sleeping function called from invalid context at kernel/printk/printk.c:2347 in_atomic(): 1, irqs_disabled(): 1, non_block: 0, pid: 1105, name: syz-executor423 3 locks held by syz-executor423/1105: #0: ffff8881468b9098 (&tty->ldisc_sem){++++}-{0:0}, at: tty_ldisc_ref_wait+0x22/0x90 drivers/tty/tty_ldisc.c:266 #1: ffff8881468b9130 (&tty->atomic_write_lock){+.+.}-{3:3}, at: tty_write_lock drivers/tty/tty_io.c:952 [inline] #1: ffff8881468b9130 (&tty->atomic_write_lock){+.+.}-{3:3}, at: do_tty_write drivers/tty/tty_io.c:975 [inline] #1: ffff8881468b9130 (&tty->atomic_write_lock){+.+.}-{3:3}, at: file_tty_write.constprop.0+0x2a8/0x8e0 drivers/tty/tty_io.c:1118 #2: ffff88801b06c398 (&gsm->tx_lock){....}-{2:2}, at: gsmld_write+0x5e/0x150 drivers/tty/n_gsm.c:2717 irq event stamp: 3482 hardirqs last enabled at (3481): [] __get_reqs_available+0x143/0x2f0 fs/aio.c:946 hardirqs last disabled at (3482): [] __raw_spin_lock_irqsave include/linux/spinlock_api_smp.h:108 [inline] hardirqs last disabled at (3482): [] _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x52/0x60 kernel/locking/spinlock.c:159 softirqs last enabled at (3408): [] asm_call_irq_on_stack+0x12/0x20 softirqs last disabled at (3401): [] asm_call_irq_on_stack+0x12/0x20 Preemption disabled at: [] 0x0 CPU: 2 PID: 1105 Comm: syz-executor423 Not tainted 5.10.137-syzkaller #0 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.12.0-1 04/01/2014 Call Trace: __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:77 [inline] dump_stack+0x107/0x167 lib/dump_stack.c:118 ___might_sleep.cold+0x1e8/0x22e kernel/sched/core.c:7304 console_lock+0x19/0x80 kernel/printk/printk.c:2347 do_con_write+0x113/0x1de0 drivers/tty/vt/vt.c:2909 con_write+0x22/0xc0 drivers/tty/vt/vt.c:3296 gsmld_write+0xd0/0x150 drivers/tty/n_gsm.c:2720 do_tty_write drivers/tty/tty_io.c:1028 [inline] file_tty_write.constprop.0+0x502/0x8e0 drivers/tty/tty_io.c:1118 call_write_iter include/linux/fs.h:1903 [inline] aio_write+0x355/0x7b0 fs/aio.c:1580 __io_submit_one fs/aio.c:1952 [inline] io_submit_one+0xf45/0x1a90 fs/aio.c:1999 __do_sys_io_submit fs/aio.c:2058 [inline] __se_sys_io_submit fs/aio.c:2028 [inline] __x64_sys_io_submit+0x18c/0x2f0 fs/aio.c:2028 do_syscall_64+0x33/0x40 arch/x86/entry/common.c:46 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x61/0xc6 The problem happens in the following control flow: gsmld_write(...) spin_lock_irqsave(&gsm->tx_lock, flags) // taken a spinlock on TX data con_write(...) do_con_write(...) console_lock() might_sleep() // -> bug As far as console_lock() might sleep it should not be called with spinlock held. The patch replaces tx_lock spinlock with mutex in order to avoid the problem. Found by Linux Verification Center (linuxtesting.org) with Syzkaller.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2022-49941 since 05/01/2025. The exploitation appears to be difficult. 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 11/19/2025).

Upgrading to version 5.10.143 or 5.19.8 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch eb75efdec8dd0f01ac85c88feafa6e63b34a2521/132331c1f605eb5911795a6b9115114575594d0a/902e02ea9385373ce4b142576eef41c642703955 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 EUVD (EUVD-2022-55187) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-1350). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality 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

• 5.10.142
• 5.19.0
• 5.19.1
• 5.19.2
• 5.19.3
• 5.19.4
• 5.19.5
• 5.19.6
• 5.19.7
• c9754e10f1a57c1be24f6fb0cade58253e05a109
• c530595b28effe99d99041e7f57371e046535007
• e1e3b6517ddbb0e9934785d3bd94e61fde05c6ec
• fbf979564682edf1b727d4b6620ca70c59f4ee62

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

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