Security assessments indicate that CVE-2022-49070 presents a notable risk, potentially requiring prompt mitigation.
Status: Analyzed
Last updated: 🕡 18 Mar 2025, 18:47 UTC
Originally published on: 🕖 26 Feb 2025, 07:00 UTC
Time between publication and last update: 20 days
CVSS Release: version 3
nvd@nist.gov
Primary
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVE-2022-49070: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fbdev: Fix unregistering of framebuffers without device OF framebuffers do not have an underlying device in the Linux device hierarchy. Do a regular unregister call instead of hot unplugging such a non-existing device. Fixes a NULL dereference. An example error message on ppc64le is shown below. BUG: Kernel NULL pointer dereference on read at 0x00000060 Faulting instruction address: 0xc00000000080dfa4 Oops: Kernel access of bad area, sig: 11 [#1] LE PAGE_SIZE=64K MMU=Hash SMP NR_CPUS=2048 NUMA pSeries [...] CPU: 2 PID: 139 Comm: systemd-udevd Not tainted 5.17.0-ae085d7f9365 #1 NIP: c00000000080dfa4 LR: c00000000080df9c CTR: c000000000797430 REGS: c000000004132fe0 TRAP: 0300 Not tainted (5.17.0-ae085d7f9365) MSR: 8000000002009033 <SF,VEC,EE,ME,IR,DR,RI,LE> CR: 28228282 XER: 20000000 CFAR: c00000000000c80c DAR: 0000000000000060 DSISR: 40000000 IRQMASK: 0 GPR00: c00000000080df9c c000000004133280 c00000000169d200 0000000000000029 GPR04: 00000000ffffefff c000000004132f90 c000000004132f88 0000000000000000 GPR08: c0000000015658f8 c0000000015cd200 c0000000014f57d0 0000000048228283 GPR12: 0000000000000000 c00000003fffe300 0000000020000000 0000000000000000 GPR16: 0000000000000000 0000000113fc4a40 0000000000000005 0000000113fcfb80 GPR20: 000001000f7283b0 0000000000000000 c000000000e4a588 c000000000e4a5b0 GPR24: 0000000000000001 00000000000a0000 c008000000db0168 c0000000021f6ec0 GPR28: c0000000016d65a8 c000000004b36460 0000000000000000 c0000000016d64b0 NIP [c00000000080dfa4] do_remove_conflicting_framebuffers+0x184/0x1d0 [c000000004133280] [c00000000080df9c] do_remove_conflicting_framebuffers+0x17c/0x1d0 (unreliable) [c000000004133350] [c00000000080e4d0] remove_conflicting_framebuffers+0x60/0x150 [c0000000041333a0] [c00000000080e6f4] remove_conflicting_pci_framebuffers+0x134/0x1b0 [c000000004133450] [c008000000e70438] drm_aperture_remove_conflicting_pci_framebuffers+0x90/0x100 [drm] [c000000004133490] [c008000000da0ce4] bochs_pci_probe+0x6c/0xa64 [bochs] [...] [c000000004133db0] [c00000000002aaa0] system_call_exception+0x170/0x2d0 [c000000004133e10] [c00000000000c3cc] system_call_common+0xec/0x250 The bug [1] was introduced by commit 27599aacbaef ("fbdev: Hot-unplug firmware fb devices on forced removal"). Most firmware framebuffers have an underlying platform device, which can be hot-unplugged before loading the native graphics driver. OF framebuffers do not (yet) have that device. Fix the code by unregistering the framebuffer as before without a hot unplug. Tested with 5.17 on qemu ppc64le emulation.
The exploitability of CVE-2022-49070 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).
CVE-2022-49070 presents an accessible attack vector with minimal effort required. Restricting access controls and implementing security updates are critical to reducing exploitation risks.
A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.
Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.
Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.
Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2022-49070, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.
Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2022-49070, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.
The EPSS score estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the near future.
EPSS Score: 0.045% (probability of exploit)
EPSS Percentile: 18.4%
(lower percentile = lower relative risk)
This vulnerability is less risky than approximately 81.6% of others.
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