What is CVE-2022-50538?

CVE-2022-50538 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), affecting Linux kernel versions from 4.9 onward and patched in 4.9.337, 4.14.303, 4.19.270 and others. CVE-2022-50538 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2022-50538?

CVE-2022-50538 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity. 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-2022-50538?

Yes, CVE-2022-50538 has been patched. Fixed versions include 4.9.337, 4.14.303, 4.19.270 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 4.9 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2022-50538 actively exploited?

CVE-2022-50538 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA 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. See MITRE CWE for full details: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/476.html

CVE-2022-50538

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vme: Fix error not catched in fake_init() In fake_init(), __root_device_register() is possible to fail but it's ignored, which can cause unregistering vme_root fail when exit. general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc000000008c KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000460-0x0000000000000467] RIP: 0010:root_device_unregister+0x26/0x60 Call Trace: <TASK> __x64_sys_delete_module+0x34f/0x540 do_syscall_64+0x38/0x90 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd Return error when __root_device_register() fails.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2025-10-07

Last modified 2026-02-26

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-2022-50538 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 4.9 and later are affected. Fixed in 4.9.337, 4.14.303, 4.19.270, 5.4.229, 5.10.163, 5.15.86, 6.0.16, 6.1.2, 6.2 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 4.9

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 ✓ 5.15.86 5.15.x ✓ 6.0.16 6.0.x ✓ 6.1.2 6.1.x ✓ 6.2

References

9 total

Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/09be0e7ac5f9374b6f8de72c89ed67129af71f65

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/37d3de40c1ffb6a5e626bf46ff5ef5766c824e2c

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4bc217b25ea81034fad8e33fd33e4659f086421d

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/60ff9bd4ffc87bace581e235a6728f5ac8e5071f

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/69b43937f14bdc3594f57f1a507a14f3d1187136

Patch

Showing 5 of 9 references View all on NVD

Details

CVE ID CVE-2022-50538

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2025-10-07

Modified 2026-02-26

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2022-50538?

CVE-2022-50538 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 4.9 onward and has been patched in 4.9.337, 4.14.303, 4.19.270 and others. CVE-2022-50538 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2022-50538?

CVE-2022-50538 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-2022-50538?

Yes. CVE-2022-50538 has been patched. Fixed versions include 4.9.337, 4.14.303, 4.19.270 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 4.9 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2022-50538 actively exploited?

No. CVE-2022-50538 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.