CVE-2022-49808: linux kernel vulnerability

What is known

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: dsa: don't leak tagger-owned storage on switch driver unbind In the initial commit dc452a471dba ("net: dsa: introduce tagger-owned storage for private and shared data"), we had a call to tag_ops->disconnect(dst) issued from dsa_tree_free(), which is called at tree teardown time. There were problems with connecting to a switch tree as a whole, so this got reworked to connecting to individual switches within the tree. In this process, tag_ops->disconnect(ds) was made to be called only from switch.c (cross-chip notifiers emitted as a result of dynamic tag proto changes), but the normal driver teardown code path wasn't replaced with anything. Solve this problem by adding a function that does the opposite of dsa_switch_setup_tag_protocol(), which is called from the equivalent spot in dsa_switch_teardown(). The positioning here also ensures that we won't have any use-after-free in tagging protocol (*rcv) ops, since the teardown sequence is as follows: dsa_tree_teardown -> dsa_tree_teardown_master -> dsa_master_teardown -> unsets master->dsa_ptr, making no further packets match the ETH_P_XDSA packet type handler -> dsa_tree_teardown_ports -> dsa_port_teardown -> dsa_slave_destroy -> unregisters DSA net devices, there is even a synchronize_net() in unregister_netdevice_many() -> dsa_tree_teardown_switches -> dsa_switch_teardown -> dsa_switch_teardown_tag_protocol -> finally frees the tagger-owned storage

Business impact

Successful exploitation of CVE-2022-49808, 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
• Reference
• Reference