CVE-2022-49955: linux kernel Null Dereference — Fix

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: powerpc/rtas: Fix RTAS MSR[HV] handling for Cell The semi-recent changes to MSR handling when entering RTAS (firmware) cause crashes on IBM Cell machines. An example trace: kernel tried to execute user page (2fff01a8) - exploit attempt? (uid: 0) BUG: Unable to handle kernel instruction fetch Faulting instruction address: 0x2fff01a8 Oops: Kernel access of bad area, sig: 11 [#1] BE PAGE_SIZE=64K MMU=Hash SMP NR_CPUS=4 NUMA Cell Modules linked in: CPU: 0 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/0 Tainted: G W 6.0.0-rc2-00433-gede0a8d3307a #207 NIP: 000000002fff01a8 LR: 0000000000032608 CTR: 0000000000000000 REGS: c0000000015236b0 TRAP: 0400 Tainted: G W (6.0.0-rc2-00433-gede0a8d3307a) MSR: 0000000008001002 <ME,RI> CR: 00000000 XER: 20000000 ... NIP 0x2fff01a8 LR 0x32608 Call Trace: 0xc00000000143c5f8 (unreliable) .rtas_call+0x224/0x320 .rtas_get_boot_time+0x70/0x150 .read_persistent_clock64+0x114/0x140 .read_persistent_wall_and_boot_offset+0x24/0x80 .timekeeping_init+0x40/0x29c .start_kernel+0x674/0x8f0 start_here_common+0x1c/0x50 Unlike PAPR platforms where RTAS is only used in guests, on the IBM Cell machines Linux runs with MSR[HV] set but also uses RTAS, provided by SLOF. Fix it by copying the MSR[HV] bit from the MSR value we've just read using mfmsr into the value used for RTAS. It seems like we could also fix it using an #ifdef CELL to set MSR[HV], but that doesn't work because it's possible to build a single kernel image that runs on both Cell native and pseries.

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CVSS v3.1 Score

5.5

MEDIUM

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-476 CWE-476

Affected Products

Vendor	Product	Versions
linux	linux_kernel	5.15.46 — 5.16
linux	linux_kernel	5.17.14 — 5.18
linux	linux_kernel	5.18.3 — 5.19.8
linux	linux_kernel	All
linux	linux_kernel	All
linux	linux_kernel	All

References

Advisories & Patches

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8b08d4f97233d8e58fff2fd9d5f86397a49733c5 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/91926d8b7e71aaf5f84f0cf208fc5a8b7a761050

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2022-49955? +

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: powerpc/rtas: Fix RTAS MSR[HV] handling for Cell The semi-recent changes to MSR handling when entering RTAS (firmware) cause crashes on IBM Cell machines. An example trace: kernel tried to execute user page (2fff01a8) - exploit attempt? (uid: 0) BUG: Unable to handle kernel instruction fetch Faulting instruction address: 0x2fff01a8 Oops: Kernel access of bad area, sig: 11 [#1] BE PAGE_SIZE=64K MMU=Hash SMP NR_CPUS=4 NUMA Cell Modules linked in: CPU: 0 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/0 Tainted: G W 6.0.0-rc2-00433-gede0a8d3307a #207 NIP: 000000002fff01a8 LR: 0000000000032608 CTR: 0000000000000000 REGS: c0000000015236b0 TRAP: 0400 Tainted: G W (6.0.0-rc2-00433-gede0a8d3307a) MSR: 0000000008001002 <ME,RI> CR: 00000000 XER: 20000000 ... NIP 0x2fff01a8 LR 0x32608 Call Trace: 0xc00000000143c5f8 (unreliable) .rtas_call+0x224/0x320 .rtas_get_boot_time+0x70/0x150 .read_persistent_clock64+0x114/0x140 .read_persistent_wall_and_boot_offset+0x24/0x80 .timekeeping_init+0x40/0x29c .start_kernel+0x674/0x8f0 start_here_common+0x1c/0x50 Unlike PAPR platforms where RTAS is only used in guests, on the IBM Cell machines Linux runs with MSR[HV] set but also uses RTAS, provided by SLOF. Fix it by copying the MSR[HV] bit from the MSR value we've just read using mfmsr into the value used for RTAS. It seems like we could also fix it using an #ifdef CELL to set MSR[HV], but that doesn't work because it's possible to build a single kernel image that runs on both Cell native and pseries. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.5 (MEDIUM).

How severe is CVE-2022-49955? +

CVE-2022-49955 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 5.5 out of 10, rated MEDIUM. This is a medium-severity vulnerability that should be remediated as part of regular maintenance.

What products are affected by CVE-2022-49955? +

CVE-2022-49955 affects products from linux, specifically: linux_kernel. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2022-49955? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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