What is CVE-2022-50720?

CVE-2022-50720 is a unscored severity Linux kernel vulnerability, affecting Linux kernel versions from 3.3 onward and patched in 5.19.17, 6.0.3 and 6.1. CVE-2022-50720 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2022-50720?

CVE-2022-50720 has a CVSS score of pending NVD analysis out of 10, rated awaiting scoring severity.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2022-50720?

Yes, CVE-2022-50720 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.19.17, 6.0.3 and 6.1. If you are running Linux kernel 3.3 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2022-50720 actively exploited?

CVE-2022-50720 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

CVE-2022-50720

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: x86/apic: Don't disable x2APIC if locked The APIC supports two modes, legacy APIC (or xAPIC), and Extended APIC (or x2APIC). X2APIC mode is mostly compatible with legacy APIC, but it disables the memory-mapped APIC interface in favor of one that uses MSRs. The APIC mode is controlled by the EXT bit in the APIC MSR. The MMIO/xAPIC interface has some problems, most notably the APIC LEAK [1]. This bug allows an attacker to use the APIC MMIO interface to extract data from the SGX enclave. Introduce support for a new feature that will allow the BIOS to lock the APIC in x2APIC mode. If the APIC is locked in x2APIC mode and the kernel tries to disable the APIC or revert to legacy APIC mode a GP fault will occur. Introduce support for a new MSR (IA32_XAPIC_DISABLE_STATUS) and handle the new locked mode when the LEGACY_XAPIC_DISABLED bit is set by preventing the kernel from trying to disable the x2APIC. On platforms with the IA32_XAPIC_DISABLE_STATUS MSR, if SGX or TDX are enabled the LEGACY_XAPIC_DISABLED will be set by the BIOS. If legacy APIC is required, then it SGX and TDX need to be disabled in the BIOS. [1]: https://aepicleak.com/aepicleak.pdf

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2025-12-24

Last modified 2026-04-15

Patch available

Yes

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 3.3 and later are affected. Fixed in 5.19.17, 6.0.3, 6.1 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 3.3

Fixed in

✓ 5.19.17 5.19.x ✓ 6.0.3 6.0.x ✓ 6.1

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2022-50720 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/05785ba834f23272f9d23427ae4a80ac505a5296
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b8d1d163604bd1e600b062fb00de5dc42baa355f
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dd1241e00addbf0b95f6cd6ce32152692820657e
Patch

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2022-50720?

CVE-2022-50720 is a unscored severity Linux kernel vulnerability . It affects Linux kernel versions from 3.3 onward and has been patched in 5.19.17, 6.0.3 and 6.1. CVE-2022-50720 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2022-50720?

Yes — CVE-2022-50720 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.19.17, 6.0.3 and 6.1. If you are running Linux kernel 3.3 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2022-50720 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2022-50720 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.