NULL pointer dereference in Linux

CVE-2022-50538

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vme: Fix error not catched in fake_init() In fake_init(), __root_device_register() is possible to fail but it's ignored, which can cause unregistering vme_root fail when exit. general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc000000008c KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000460-0x0000000000000467] RIP: 0010:root_device_unregister+0x26/0x60 Call Trace: <TASK> __x64_sys_delete_module+0x34f/0x540 do_syscall_64+0x38/0x90 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd Return error when __root_device_register() fails.

Published · last modified .

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.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.002 (4.4th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 4th percentile — 4.4% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2022-50538: held from 0.001 to 0.002.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.001 · newest: 0.002 · change: +0.000

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2022-50538?
CVE-2022-50538 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under NULL Pointer Dereference. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2025-10-07.
How severe is CVE-2022-50538?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.