CVE-2022-50381

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: md: fix a crash in mempool_free There's a crash in mempool_free when running the lvm test shell/lvchange-rebuild-raid.sh. The reason for the crash is this: * super_written calls atomic_dec_and_test(&mddev->pending_writes) and wake_up(&mddev->sb_wait). Then it calls rdev_dec_pending(rdev, mddev) and bio_put(bio). * so, the process that waited on sb_wait and that is woken up is racing with bio_put(bio). * if the process wins the race, it calls bioset_exit before bio_put(bio) is executed. * bio_put(bio) attempts to free a bio into a destroyed bio set - causing a crash in mempool_free. We fix this bug by moving bio_put before atomic_dec_and_test. We also move rdev_dec_pending before atomic_dec_and_test as suggested by Neil Brown. The function md_end_flush has a similar bug - we must call bio_put before we decrement the number of in-progress bios. BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 #PF: supervisor write access in kernel mode #PF: error_code(0x0002) - not-present page PGD 11557f0067 P4D 11557f0067 PUD 0 Oops: 0002 [#1] PREEMPT SMP CPU: 0 PID: 73 Comm: kworker/0:1 Not tainted 6.1.0-rc3 #5 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.14.0-2 04/01/2014 Workqueue: kdelayd flush_expired_bios [dm_delay] RIP: 0010:mempool_free+0x47/0x80 Code: 48 89 ef 5b 5d ff e0 f3 c3 48 89 f7 e8 32 45 3f 00 48 63 53 08 48 89 c6 3b 53 04 7d 2d 48 8b 43 10 8d 4a 01 48 89 df 89 4b 08 <48> 89 2c d0 e8 b0 45 3f 00 48 8d 7b 30 5b 5d 31 c9 ba 01 00 00 00 RSP: 0018:ffff88910036bda8 EFLAGS: 00010093 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff8891037b65d8 RCX: 0000000000000001 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000202 RDI: ffff8891037b65d8 RBP: ffff8891447ba240 R08: 0000000000012908 R09: 00000000003d0900 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000173544 R12: ffff889101a14000 R13: ffff8891562ac300 R14: ffff889102b41440 R15: ffffe8ffffa00d05 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff88942fa00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000000000000000 CR3: 0000001102e99000 CR4: 00000000000006b0 Call Trace: <TASK> clone_endio+0xf4/0x1c0 [dm_mod] clone_endio+0xf4/0x1c0 [dm_mod] __submit_bio+0x76/0x120 submit_bio_noacct_nocheck+0xb6/0x2a0 flush_expired_bios+0x28/0x2f [dm_delay] process_one_work+0x1b4/0x300 worker_thread+0x45/0x3e0 ? rescuer_thread+0x380/0x380 kthread+0xc2/0x100 ? kthread_complete_and_exit+0x20/0x20 ret_from_fork+0x1f/0x30 </TASK> Modules linked in: brd dm_delay dm_raid dm_mod af_packet uvesafb cfbfillrect cfbimgblt cn cfbcopyarea fb font fbdev tun autofs4 binfmt_misc configfs ipv6 virtio_rng virtio_balloon rng_core virtio_net pcspkr net_failover failover qemu_fw_cfg button mousedev raid10 raid456 libcrc32c async_raid6_recov async_memcpy async_pq raid6_pq async_xor xor async_tx raid1 raid0 md_mod sd_mod t10_pi crc64_rocksoft crc64 virtio_scsi scsi_mod evdev psmouse bsg scsi_common [last unloaded: brd] CR2: 0000000000000000 ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2025-09-18
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-2022-50381 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 2.6.13 and later are affected. Fixed in 4.9.337, 4.14.303, 4.19.270, 5.4.229, 5.10.163, 5.15.87, 6.0.17, 6.1.3, 6.2 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 2.6.13
Fixed in
✓ 4.9.337 4.9.x ✓ 4.14.303 4.14.x ✓ 4.19.270 4.19.x ✓ 5.4.229 5.4.x ✓ 5.10.163 5.10.x ✓ 5.15.87 5.15.x ✓ 6.0.17 6.0.x ✓ 6.1.3 6.1.x ✓ 6.2

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2022-50381 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-2022-50381?

    CVE-2022-50381 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 2.6.13 onward and has been patched in 4.9.337, 4.14.303, 4.19.270 and others. CVE-2022-50381 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • What is the CVSS score for CVE-2022-50381?

    CVE-2022-50381 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-2022-50381?

    Yes — CVE-2022-50381 has been patched. Fixed versions include 4.9.337, 4.14.303, 4.19.270 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 2.6.13 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2022-50381 actively exploited?

    No — CVE-2022-50381 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 →