CVE-2022-49290

High

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mac80211: fix potential double free on mesh join While commit 6a01afcf8468 ("mac80211: mesh: Free ie data when leaving mesh") fixed a memory leak on mesh leave / teardown it introduced a potential memory corruption caused by a double free when rejoining the mesh: ieee80211_leave_mesh() -> kfree(sdata->u.mesh.ie); ... ieee80211_join_mesh() -> copy_mesh_setup() -> old_ie = ifmsh->ie; -> kfree(old_ie); This double free / kernel panics can be reproduced by using wpa_supplicant with an encrypted mesh (if set up without encryption via "iw" then ifmsh->ie is always NULL, which avoids this issue). And then calling: $ iw dev mesh0 mesh leave $ iw dev mesh0 mesh join my-mesh Note that typically these commands are not used / working when using wpa_supplicant. And it seems that wpa_supplicant or wpa_cli are going through a NETDEV_DOWN/NETDEV_UP cycle between a mesh leave and mesh join where the NETDEV_UP resets the mesh.ie to NULL via a memcpy of default_mesh_setup in cfg80211_netdev_notifier_call, which then avoids the memory corruption, too. The issue was first observed in an application which was not using wpa_supplicant but "Senf" instead, which implements its own calls to nl80211. Fixing the issue by removing the kfree()'ing of the mesh IE in the mesh join function and leaving it solely up to the mesh leave to free the mesh IE.

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2025-02-26
Last modified 2025-10-01
CVSS version 3.1
Patch available
Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

7.8

out of 10
High
Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Vector string
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Weakness type

CWE-415

CVE-2022-49290 is classified as CWE-415

See CWE-415 on MITRE CWE for full details on this weakness type.

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 4.9.233, 4.14.192, 4.19.137, 5.4.56, 4.4.233, 5.7.13, 5.8 and later are affected. Fixed in 4.9.309, 4.14.274, 4.19.237, 5.4.188, 5.10.109, 5.15.32, 5.16.18, 5.17.1, 5.18 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 4.9.233 ≥ 4.14.192 ≥ 4.19.137 ≥ 5.4.56 ≥ 4.4.233 ≥ 5.7.13 ≥ 5.8
Fixed in
✓ 4.9.309 4.9.x ✓ 4.14.274 4.14.x ✓ 4.19.237 4.19.x ✓ 5.4.188 5.4.x ✓ 5.10.109 5.10.x ✓ 5.15.32 5.15.x ✓ 5.16.18 5.16.x ✓ 5.17.1 5.17.x ✓ 5.18

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2022-49290 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Frequently asked questions

  • What is CVE-2022-49290?

    CVE-2022-49290 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 4.9.233 onward and has been patched in 4.9.309, 4.14.274, 4.19.237 and others. CVE-2022-49290 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • What is the CVSS score for CVE-2022-49290?

    CVE-2022-49290 has a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10, rated High severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H .

  • Is there a patch available for CVE-2022-49290?

    Yes — CVE-2022-49290 has been patched. Fixed versions include 4.9.309, 4.14.274, 4.19.237 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 4.9.233 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2022-49290 actively exploited?

    No — CVE-2022-49290 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.