CVE-2022-50370

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: i2c: designware: Fix handling of real but unexpected device interrupts Commit c7b79a752871 ("mfd: intel-lpss: Add Intel Alder Lake PCH-S PCI IDs") caused a regression on certain Gigabyte motherboards for Intel Alder Lake-S where system crashes to NULL pointer dereference in i2c_dw_xfer_msg() when system resumes from S3 sleep state ("deep"). I was able to debug the issue on Gigabyte Z690 AORUS ELITE and made following notes: - Issue happens when resuming from S3 but not when resuming from "s2idle" - PCI device 00:15.0 == i2c_designware.0 is already in D0 state when system enters into pci_pm_resume_noirq() while all other i2c_designware PCI devices are in D3. Devices were runtime suspended and in D3 prior entering into suspend - Interrupt comes after pci_pm_resume_noirq() when device interrupts are re-enabled - According to register dump the interrupt really comes from the i2c_designware.0. Controller is enabled, I2C target address register points to a one detectable I2C device address 0x60 and the DW_IC_RAW_INTR_STAT register START_DET, STOP_DET, ACTIVITY and TX_EMPTY bits are set indicating completed I2C transaction. My guess is that the firmware uses this controller to communicate with an on-board I2C device during resume but does not disable the controller before giving control to an operating system. I was told the UEFI update fixes this but never the less it revealed the driver is not ready to handle TX_EMPTY (or RX_FULL) interrupt when device is supposed to be idle and state variables are not set (especially the dev->msgs pointer which may point to NULL or stale old data). Introduce a new software status flag STATUS_ACTIVE indicating when the controller is active in driver point of view. Now treat all interrupts that occur when is not set as unexpected and mask all interrupts from the controller.

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2025-09-17
Last modified 2026-01-14
CVSS version 3.1
Patch available
Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

5.5

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

Weakness type

CWE-476

CVE-2022-50370 is a NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability

What is NULL Pointer Dereference?

The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL, typically causing a crash. Learn more on MITRE CWE

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 5.12 and later are affected. Fixed in 5.15.75, 5.19.17, 6.0.3, 6.1 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 5.12
Fixed in
✓ 5.15.75 5.15.x ✓ 5.19.17 5.19.x ✓ 6.0.3 6.0.x ✓ 6.1

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2022-50370 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-2022-50370?

    CVE-2022-50370 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 , classified as a NULL Pointer Dereference flaw (CWE-476) . It affects Linux kernel versions from 5.12 onward and has been patched in 5.15.75, 5.19.17, 6.0.3 and others. CVE-2022-50370 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • What is the CVSS score for CVE-2022-50370?

    CVE-2022-50370 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H .

  • Is there a patch available for CVE-2022-50370?

    Yes — CVE-2022-50370 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.15.75, 5.19.17, 6.0.3 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 5.12 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2022-50370 actively exploited?

    No — CVE-2022-50370 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.

  • What is NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476)?

    The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL, typically causing a crash. View CWE-476 on MITRE CWE →