CVE-2022-49164

CVE-2022-49164 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel with a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low.

Key facts

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: powerpc/tm: Fix more userspace r13 corruption Commit cf13435b730a ("powerpc/tm: Fix userspace r13 corruption") fixes a problem in treclaim where a SLB miss can occur on the thread_struct->ckpt_regs while SCRATCH0 is live with the saved user r13 value, clobbering it with the kernel r13 and ultimately resulting in kernel r13 being stored in ckpt_regs. There is an equivalent problem in trechkpt where the user r13 value is loaded into r13 from chkpt_regs to be recheckpointed, but a SLB miss could occur on ckpt_regs accesses after that, which will result in r13 being clobbered with a kernel value and that will get recheckpointed and then restored to user registers. The same memory page is accessed right before this critical window where a SLB miss could cause corruption, so hitting the bug requires the SLB entry be removed within a small window of instructions, which is possible if a SLB related MCE hits there. PAPR also permits the hypervisor to discard this SLB entry (because slb_shadow->persistent is only set to SLB_NUM_BOLTED) although it's not known whether any implementations would do this (KVM does not). So this is an extremely unlikely bug, only found by inspection. Fix this by also storing user r13 in a temporary location on the kernel stack and don't change the r13 register from kernel r13 until the RI=0 critical section that does not fault. The SCRATCH0 change is not strictly part of the fix, it's only used in the RI=0 section so it does not have the same problem as the previous SCRATCH0 bug.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2022-49164?
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: powerpc/tm: Fix more userspace r13 corruption Commit cf13435b730a ("powerpc/tm: Fix userspace r13 corruption") fixes a problem in treclaim where a SLB miss can occur on the thread_struct->ckpt_regs while SCRATCH0 is live with the saved user r13 value, clobbering it with the kernel r13 and ultimately resulting in kernel r13 being stored in ckpt_regs. There is an equivalent problem in trechkpt where the user r13 value is loaded into r13 from chkpt_regs to be recheckpointed, but a SLB miss could occur on ckpt_regs accesses after that, which will result in r13 being clobbered with a kernel value and that will get recheckpointed and then restored to user registers. The same memory page is accessed right before this critical window where a SLB miss could cause corruption, so hitting the bug requires the SLB entry be removed within a small window of instructions, which is possible if a SLB related MCE hits there. PAPR also permits the hypervisor to discard this SLB entry (because slb_shadow->persistent is only set to SLB_NUM_BOLTED) although it's not known whether any implementations would do this (KVM does not). So this is an extremely unlikely bug, only found by inspection. Fix this by also storing user r13 in a temporary location on the kernel stack and don't change the r13 register from kernel r13 until the RI=0 critical section that does not fault. The SCRATCH0 change is not strictly part of the fix, it's only used in the RI=0 section so it does not have the same problem as the previous SCRATCH0 bug.
How severe is CVE-2022-49164?
CVE-2022-49164 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.
Is CVE-2022-49164 being actively exploited?
It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (16th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2022-49164?
CVE-2022-49164 affects Linux Linux Kernel. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.
How do I fix CVE-2022-49164?
Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
Does CVE-2022-49164 have an EU (EUVD) identifier?
Yes. CVE-2022-49164 is tracked in the ENISA EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD) as EUVD-2022-55061.
When was CVE-2022-49164 published?
CVE-2022-49164 was published on 2025-02-26 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (1)

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