In 2022, 318 Linux kernel CVEs were published, sourced from the NIST National Vulnerability Database. Of these, 2 were rated Critical, 142 High severity , and 3 were confirmed as actively exploited in the wild (CISA KEV) . Compared to 2021's 175 CVEs, 2022 represented an increase of 82% year-on-year. December was the most active month, with 46 CVEs published.
Monthly CVE Breakdown — 2022
CVEs published per month with severity breakdown
December (46) was the most active month in 2022. Together the top months account for a significant share of 2022's 318 total CVEs. January (11) had the lowest volume.
Severity Distribution — 2022
Breakdown across 318 CVEs
52% Medium · 45% High · 1% Critical.
Monthly Counts — 2022
CVE counts by month and severity
December was the most active month with 46 CVEs — 14% of 2022's total. January (11) had the lowest volume.
| Month | Total | Critical | High | Medium | Low | Share of year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 11 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 0 |
3%
|
| February | 27 | 0 | 11 | 15 | 1 |
8%
|
| March | 40 | 0 | 21 | 18 | 1 |
13%
|
| April | 15 | 0 | 8 | 7 | 0 |
5%
|
| May | 13 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 0 |
4%
|
| June | 14 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 2 |
4%
|
| July | 12 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 0 |
4%
|
| August | 40 | 0 | 15 | 25 | 0 |
13%
|
| September | 33 | 0 | 9 | 24 | 0 |
10%
|
| October | 45 | 0 | 17 | 24 | 4 |
14%
|
| November | 22 | 0 | 11 | 11 | 0 |
7%
|
| December | 46 | 1 | 23 | 22 | 0 |
14%
|
| Total | 318 | 2 | 142 | 166 | 8 |
Actively exploited CVEs — 2022
3 CVEs confirmed in CISA KEV catalog
All CVEs — 2022
318 CVEs
| CVE ID | Package | Severity | CVSS | Published | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2022-28181 | linux | Critical | 9.9 | 2022-05-17 | NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Windows and Linux contains a vulnerability in the kernel mode layer, where an unprivilege… | |
| CVE-2022-47939 | linux | Critical | 9.8 | 2022-12-23 | An issue was discovered in ksmbd in the Linux kernel 5.15 through 5.19 before 5.19.2. fs/ksmbd/smb2pdu.c has a use-afte… | |
| CVE-2022-47942 | linux | High | 8.8 | 2022-12-23 | An issue was discovered in ksmbd in the Linux kernel 5.15 through 5.19 before 5.19.2. There is a heap-based buffer over… | |
| CVE-2022-42896 | linux | High | 8.8 | 2022-11-23 | There are use-after-free vulnerabilities in the Linux kernel's net/bluetooth/l2cap_core.c's l2cap_connect and l2cap_le_… | |
| CVE-2022-3640 | linux | High | 8.8 | 2022-10-21 | A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Linux Kernel. Affected is the function l2cap_conn_del o… | |
| CVE-2022-42719 | linux | High | 8.8 | 2022-10-13 | A use-after-free in the mac80211 stack when parsing a multi-BSSID element in the Linux kernel 5.2 through 5.19.x before… | |
| CVE-2022-1043 | linux | High | 8.8 | 2022-08-29 | A flaw was found in the Linux kernel’s io_uring implementation. This flaw allows an attacker with a local account to co… | |
| CVE-2022-0435 | linux | High | 8.8 | 2022-03-25 | A stack overflow flaw was found in the Linux kernel's TIPC protocol functionality in the way a user sends a packet with… | |
| CVE-2022-27223 | linux | High | 8.8 | 2022-03-16 | In drivers/usb/gadget/udc/udc-xilinx.c in the Linux kernel before 5.16.12, the endpoint index is not validated and migh… | |
| CVE-2021-4154 | linux | High | 8.8 | 2022-02-04 | A use-after-free flaw was found in cgroup1_parse_param in kernel/cgroup/cgroup-v1.c in the Linux kernel's cgroup v1 par… |
2022 Linux Kernel CVE Highlights
-
Volume without critical severity
Despite high CVE volume, 2022 produced only 2 Critical-rated vulnerabilities. 52% of 2022 CVEs are Medium severity. This means the surge in raw numbers does not represent a proportional surge in high-severity risk.
-
Monthly variation
CVE publication in 2022 was uneven across months. December was the most active with 46 CVEs. January (11) had the lowest volume. Monthly spikes typically correspond to coordinated batches of backfilled CVEs being processed at once.