xfrm: policy: fix metadata dst->dev xmit null pointer dereference
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 4 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-476.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xfrm: policy: fix metadata dst->dev xmit null pointer dereference When we try to transmit an skb with metadata_dst attached (i.e. dst->dev == NULL) through xfrm interface we can hit a null pointer dereference[1] in xfrmi_xmit2() -> xfrm_lookup_with_ifid() due to the check for a loopback skb device when there's no policy which dereferences dst->dev unconditionally. Not having dst->dev can be interepreted as it not being a loopback device, so just add a check for a null dst_orig->dev. With this fix xfrm interface's Tx error counters go up as usual. [1] net-next calltrace captured via netconsole: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 00000000000000c0 #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page PGD 0 P4D 0 Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP CPU: 1 PID: 7231 Comm: ping Kdump: loaded Not tainted 5.19.0+ #24 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.0-1.fc36 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:xfrm_lookup_with_ifid+0x5eb/0xa60 Code: 8d 74 24 38 e8 26 a4 37 00 48 89 c1 e9 12 fc ff ff 49 63 ed 41 83 fd be 0f 85 be 01 00 00 41 be ff ff ff ff 45 31 ed 48 8b 03 <f6> 80 c0 00 00 00 08 75 0f 41 80 bc 24 19 0d 00 00 01 0f 84 1e 02 RSP: 0018:ffffb0db82c679f0 EFLAGS: 00010246 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffffd0db7fcad430 RCX: ffffb0db82c67a10 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: ffffb0db82c67a80 RBP: ffffb0db82c67a80 R08: ffffb0db82c67a14 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: ffff8fa449667dc8 R12: ffffffff966db880 R13: 0000000000000000 R14: 00000000ffffffff R15: 0000000000000000 FS: 00007ff35c83f000(0000) GS:ffff8fa478480000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00000000000000c0 CR3: 000000001ebb7000 CR4: 0000000000350ee0 Call Trace: <TASK> xfrmi_xmit+0xde/0x460 ? tcf_bpf_act+0x13d/0x2a0 dev_hard_start_xmit+0x72/0x1e0 __dev_queue_xmit+0x251/0xd30 ip_finish_output2+0x140/0x550 ip_push_pending_frames+0x56/0x80 raw_sendmsg+0x663/0x10a0 ? try_charge_memcg+0x3fd/0x7a0 ? __mod_memcg_lruvec_state+0x93/0x110 ? sock_sendmsg+0x30/0x40 sock_sendmsg+0x30/0x40 __sys_sendto+0xeb/0x130 ? handle_mm_fault+0xae/0x280 ? do_user_addr_fault+0x1e7/0x680 ? kvm_read_and_reset_apf_flags+0x3b/0x50 __x64_sys_sendto+0x20/0x30 do_syscall_64+0x34/0x80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0 RIP: 0033:0x7ff35cac1366 Code: eb 0b 00 f7 d8 64 89 02 48 c7 c0 ff ff ff ff eb b8 0f 1f 00 41 89 ca 64 8b 04 25 18 00 00 00 85 c0 75 11 b8 2c 00 00 00 0f 05 <48> 3d 00 f0 ff ff 77 72 c3 90 55 48 83 ec 30 44 89 4c 24 2c 4c 89 RSP: 002b:00007fff738e4028 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 000000000000002c RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007fff738e57b0 RCX: 00007ff35cac1366 RDX: 0000000000000040 RSI: 0000557164e4b450 RDI: 0000000000000003 RBP: 0000557164e4b450 R08: 00007fff738e7a2c R09: 0000000000000010 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 0000000000000040 R13: 00007fff738e5770 R14: 00007fff738e4030 R15: 0000001d00000001 </TASK> Modules linked in: netconsole veth br_netfilter bridge bonding virtio_net [last unloaded: netconsole] CR2: 00000000000000c0
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 5.10.118 to before 5.10.140 | 5.10.140 | Patch available | CNA |
| Linux | Linux | 5.15 and later | 5.10.140, 5.15.64, 5.19.6, 6.0 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 5.10.118 to before 5.10.140 Fixed in 5.10.140 Patch available CNA
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 5.15 and later Fixed in 5.10.140, 5.15.64, 5.19.6, 6.0 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 3
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 5.10.118 to before 5.10.140; 5.15 to before 5.15.64; 5.16 to before 5.19.6 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.0 rc1 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.0 rc2 | Vulnerable | Linux |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.10.118 to before 5.10.140; 5.15 to before 5.15.64; 5.16 to before 5.19.6 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.0 rc1 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.0 rc2 Vulnerable ·Linux
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.140
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.140, 5.15.64, 5.19.6, 6.0
Red Hat 1 advisory
- RHSA-2023:6583 Released 2023-11-07 · Red Hat rating Importantkernel security, bug fix, and enhancement update
- Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 9) kernel-tools-libs-devel-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, libperf-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) kernel-64k-debug-devel-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-64k-debug-devel-matched-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-64k-devel-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3 +11
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) bpftool-7.2.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-64k-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3 +29
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 9) kernel-rt-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-rt-core-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-rt-debug-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3 +9
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 9) kernel-rt-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-rt-core-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-rt-debug-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3 +11
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 1 product
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2022-50004
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-mpjj-88pq-258q
- 2026-11-05 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
More Linux Kernel vulnerabilities
- TI-2025-26358 tls: fix handling of zero-length records on the rx_list KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-38352 netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2021-05514 Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.3
Sources
- CVE-2022-50004 · CVE Program
- CVE-2022-50004 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-mpjj-88pq-258q · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2022-50004 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences