NULL pointer dereference in Linux

CVE-2022-49942

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: mac80211: Don't finalize CSA in IBSS mode if state is disconnected When we are not connected to a channel, sending channel "switch" announcement doesn't make any sense. The BSS list is empty in that case. This causes the for loop in cfg80211_get_bss() to be bypassed, so the function returns NULL (check line 1424 of net/wireless/scan.c), causing the WARN_ON() in ieee80211_ibss_csa_beacon() to get triggered (check line 500 of net/mac80211/ibss.c), which was consequently reported on the syzkaller dashboard. Thus, check if we have an existing connection before generating the CSA beacon in ieee80211_ibss_finish_csa().

EPSS: 0.002 (12.2th 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-2022-49942?
CVE-2022-49942 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under NULL Pointer Dereference. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2025-06-18.
How severe is CVE-2022-49942?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.