Vulnerability in Linux
CVE-2022-49884
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: Initialize gfn_to_pfn_cache locks in dedicated helper Move the gfn_to_pfn_cache lock initialization to another helper and call the new helper during VM/vCPU creation. There are race conditions possible due to kvm_gfn_to_pfn_cache_init()'s ability to re-initialize the cache's locks. For example: a race between ioctl(KVM_XEN_HVM_EVTCHN_SEND) and kvm_gfn_to_pfn_cache_init() leads to a corrupted shinfo gpc lock. (thread 1) | (thread 2) | kvm_xen_set_evtchn_fast | read_lock_irqsave(&gpc->lock, ...) | | kvm_gfn_to_pfn_cache_init | rwlock_init(&gpc->lock) read_unlock_irqrestore(&gpc->lock, ...) | Rename "cache_init" and "cache_destroy" to activate+deactivate to avoid implying that the cache really is destroyed/freed. Note, there more races in the newly named kvm_gpc_activate() that will be addressed separately. [sean: call out that this is a bug fix]
Vulnerability class: Race Condition
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.001 (2.0th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 2nd percentile — 2.0% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.001 · newest: 0.001 · change: +0.000
Affected products
- Linux — versions 982ed0de4753ed6e71dbd40f82a5a066baf133ed, 5.17, 0
- Linux Kernel — versions 6.1
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2022-49884?
- CVE-2022-49884 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization (Race Condition). CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2025-05-01.
- How severe is CVE-2022-49884?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.