How severe is CVE-2022-36648?

CVE-2022-36648 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 10.0, rated critical severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity high, and availability high.

Is CVE-2022-36648 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 1% (69th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2022-36648?

CVE-2022-36648 affects Qemu. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.

How do I fix CVE-2022-36648?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its critical severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.

When was CVE-2022-36648 published?

CVE-2022-36648 was published on 2023-08-22 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2022-36648

CVE-2022-36648 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Qemu with a CVSS 3.x base score of 10.0. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-476.

Key facts

Severity: Critical (CVSS 3.x base score 10.0)
EPSS exploit prediction: 1% (69th percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-476
Affected product: Qemu
Published: 2023-08-22
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

The hardware emulation in the of_dpa_cmd_add_l2_flood of rocker device model in QEMU, as used in 7.0.0 and earlier, allows remote attackers to crash the host qemu and potentially execute code on the host via execute a malformed program in the guest OS. Note: This has been disputed by multiple third parties as not a valid vulnerability due to the rocker device not falling within the virtualization use case.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2022-36648?: The hardware emulation in the of_dpa_cmd_add_l2_flood of rocker device model in QEMU, as used in 7.0.0 and earlier, allows remote attackers to crash the host qemu and potentially execute code on the host via execute a malformed program in the guest OS. Note: This has been disputed by multiple third parties as not a valid vulnerability due to the rocker device not falling within the virtualization use case.
How severe is CVE-2022-36648?: CVE-2022-36648 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 10.0, rated critical severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity high, and availability high.
Is CVE-2022-36648 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 1% (69th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2022-36648?: CVE-2022-36648 affects Qemu. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.
How do I fix CVE-2022-36648?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its critical severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.
When was CVE-2022-36648 published?: CVE-2022-36648 was published on 2023-08-22 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (1)

cpe:2.3:a:qemu:qemu:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

More vulnerabilities in Qemu

CVE-2017-16845 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): hw/input/ps2.c in Qemu does not validate 'rptr' and 'count' values during guest migration, leading to out-of-bounds…
CVE-2015-8556 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Local privilege escalation vulnerability in the Gentoo QEMU package before 2.5.0-r1.
CVE-2009-3616 — Critical (CVSS 9.9): Multiple use-after-free vulnerabilities in vnc.c in the VNC server in QEMU 0.10.6 and earlier might allow guest OS…
CVE-2019-12929 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): The QMP guest_exec command in QEMU 4.0.0 and earlier is prone to OS command injection, which allows the attacker to…
CVE-2019-12928 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): The QMP migrate command in QEMU version 4.0.0 and earlier is vulnerable to OS command injection, which allows the…
CVE-2018-20815 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): In QEMU 3.1.0, load_device_tree in device_tree.c calls the deprecated load_image function, which has a buffer overflow…

All CVEs affecting Qemu →

Other CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference) vulnerabilities

CVE-2020-14500 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Secomea GateManager all versions prior to 9.2c, An attacker can send a negative value and overwrite arbitrary data.
CVE-2010-2495 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): The pppol2tp_xmit function in drivers/net/pppol2tp.c in the L2TP implementation in the Linux kernel before 2.6.34 does…
CVE-2026-46195 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: smb: client: validate dacloffset before building…
CVE-2026-31657 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: batman-adv: hold claim backbone gateways by…
CVE-2026-31436 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dmaengine: idxd: fix possible wrong descriptor…
CVE-2024-55193 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): OpenImageIO v3.1.0.0dev was discovered to contain a segmentation violation via the component /OpenImageIO/string_view.h.

Browse all CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference) vulnerabilities →