NULL pointer dereference in Linux

CVE-2022-49904

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net, neigh: Fix null-ptr-deref in neigh_table_clear() When IPv6 module gets initialized but hits an error in the middle, kenel panic with: KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000598-0x000000000000059f] CPU: 1 PID: 361 Comm: insmod Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996) RIP: 0010:__neigh_ifdown.isra.0+0x24b/0x370 RSP: 0018:ffff888012677908 EFLAGS: 00000202 ... Call Trace: <TASK> neigh_table_clear+0x94/0x2d0 ndisc_cleanup+0x27/0x40 [ipv6] inet6_init+0x21c/0x2cb [ipv6] do_one_initcall+0xd3/0x4d0 do_init_module+0x1ae/0x670 ... Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception When ipv6 initialization fails, it will try to cleanup and calls: neigh_table_clear() neigh_ifdown(tbl, NULL) pneigh_queue_purge(&tbl->proxy_queue, dev_net(dev == NULL)) # dev_net(NULL) triggers null-ptr-deref. Fix it by passing NULL to pneigh_queue_purge() in neigh_ifdown() if dev is NULL, to make kernel not panic immediately.

EPSS: 0.002 (7.4th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2022-49904?
CVE-2022-49904 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under NULL Pointer Dereference. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2025-05-01.
How severe is CVE-2022-49904?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.