CVE-2022-49072: linux kernel vulnerability

What is known

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: gpio: Restrict usage of GPIO chip irq members before initialization GPIO chip irq members are exposed before they could be completely initialized and this leads to race conditions. One such issue was observed for the gc->irq.domain variable which was accessed through the I2C interface in gpiochip_to_irq() before it could be initialized by gpiochip_add_irqchip(). This resulted in Kernel NULL pointer dereference. Following are the logs for reference :- kernel: Call Trace: kernel: gpiod_to_irq+0x53/0x70 kernel: acpi_dev_gpio_irq_get_by+0x113/0x1f0 kernel: i2c_acpi_get_irq+0xc0/0xd0 kernel: i2c_device_probe+0x28a/0x2a0 kernel: really_probe+0xf2/0x460 kernel: RIP: 0010:gpiochip_to_irq+0x47/0xc0 To avoid such scenarios, restrict usage of GPIO chip irq members before they are completely initialized.

Business impact

Successful exploitation of CVE-2022-49072, a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.5) affecting linux kernel, may affect the confidentiality, integrity or availability of the vulnerable environment. The exact impact depends on the installed version, exposed interfaces and deployment configuration.

Recommended administrator action

Confirm whether linux kernel is present and compare installed versions with the vendor advisory and NVD record. Apply the vendor patch or documented mitigation; until remediation is complete, reduce exposure of affected interfaces, review relevant logs and monitor for indicators of exploitation. DataHouse can support version verification, managed patching, network exposure reduction, log review and backup validation for dedicated, cloud and colocated environments.

Sources

• NVD
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