CVE-2022-49286

What it is

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tpm: use try_get_ops() in tpm-space.c As part of the series conversion to remove nested TPM operations: https://lore.kernel.org/all/[email protected]/ exposure of the chip->tpm_mutex was removed from much of the upper level code. In this conversion, tpm2_del_space() was missed. This didn't matter much because it's usually called closely after a converted operation, so there's only a very tiny race window where the chip can be removed before the space flushing is done which causes a NULL deref on the mutex. However, there are reports of this window being hit in practice, so fix this by converting tpm2_del_space() to use tpm_try_get_ops(), which performs all the teardown checks before acquring the mutex.

At a glance

Exploitability

Can be exploited locally on the machine with a low-privilege account. High risk of service disruption.

Exploit odds

0.2% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).

Fix

A patch, advisory or fixed version is referenced. Upgrade or apply it.

Timeline

1. 2025-02-26 07:01 UTC PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
2. 2026-11-05 20:17 UTC Last updatedMost recent change to the record

Details

Published

2025-02-26 07:01 UTC

Last modified

2026-11-05 20:17 UTC

Exploit probability

0.2% · EPSS, next 30 days

Weakness

CWE-476 · NULL pointer dereference

Record status

Analyzed

Affected

• Linux Kernel < 5.4.188
• Linux Kernel < 5.10.109
• Linux Kernel < 5.15.32
• Linux Kernel < 5.16.18
• Linux Kernel 5.17

Attack profile CVSS 3.1 · 4.7

Attack vector

Local

Complexity

High

Privileges needed

Low

User interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

High