Linux Kernel up to 5.10.162/5.15.85/6.0.15/6.1.1 ioctl null pointer dereference

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CTI Interest Score
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5.0$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 5.10.162/5.15.85/6.0.15/6.1.1. Affected by this vulnerability is the function ioctl. The manipulation leads to null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2022-50453. There is no exploit available. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.10.162/5.15.85/6.0.15/6.1.1 and classified as critical. This issue affects the function ioctl. 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: gpiolib: cdev: fix NULL-pointer dereferences There are several places where we can crash the kernel by requesting lines, unbinding the GPIO device, then calling any of the system calls relevant to the GPIO character device's annonymous file descriptors: ioctl(), read(), poll(). While I observed it with the GPIO simulator, it will also happen for any of the GPIO devices that can be hot-unplugged - for instance any HID GPIO expander (e.g. CP2112). This affects both v1 and v2 uAPI. This fixes it partially by checking if gdev->chip is not NULL but it doesn't entirely remedy the situation as we still have a race condition in which another thread can remove the device after the check.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2022-50453 since 09/17/2025. The exploitation is known to be difficult. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 269645 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2022-50453), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.10.163, 5.15.86, 6.0.16 or 6.1.2 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 6d79546622baab843172b52c3af035f83c1b21df/7c755a2d6df511eeb5afba966ac28140f9ea5063/d66f68ac9e7ba46b6b90fbe25155723f2126088a/ac6ce3cd7a3e10a2e37b8970bab81b4d33d5cfc3/533aae7c94dbc2b14301cfd68ae7e0e90f0c8438 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 (269645), EUVD (EUVD-2025-32849) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2187). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Affected

  • Amazon Linux 2
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux
  • SUSE Linux
  • Oracle Linux
  • Open Source Linux Kernel
  • Dell Secure Connect Gateway

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

License

Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 5.1
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 5.0

VulDB Base Score: 4.8
VulDB Temp Score: 4.6
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 5.5
NVD Vector: 🔒

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
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VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Null pointer dereference
CWE: CWE-476 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: Partially

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

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Nessus ID: 269645
Nessus Name: Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2022-50453

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 5.10.163/5.15.86/6.0.16/6.1.2
Patch: 6d79546622baab843172b52c3af035f83c1b21df/7c755a2d6df511eeb5afba966ac28140f9ea5063/d66f68ac9e7ba46b6b90fbe25155723f2126088a/ac6ce3cd7a3e10a2e37b8970bab81b4d33d5cfc3/533aae7c94dbc2b14301cfd68ae7e0e90f0c8438

Timelineinfo

09/17/2025 CVE reserved
10/01/2025 +14 days Advisory disclosed
10/01/2025 +0 days VulDB entry created
01/17/2026 +108 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2022-50453 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2022-50453
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-326579
EUVD: 🔒
CERT Bund: WID-SEC-2025-2187 - Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen ermöglichen Denial of Service

Entryinfo

Created: 10/01/2025 15:00
Updated: 01/17/2026 22:11
Changes: 10/01/2025 15:00 (58), 10/12/2025 00:03 (2), 11/19/2025 23:40 (7), 01/16/2026 23:47 (11), 01/17/2026 22:11 (1)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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