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Linux Kernel CVE-2022-49287

HIGH
Use After Free (CWE-416)
2025-02-26 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
High
Disputed · 7.0 Vendor: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
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Severity by source

Sources disagree (Low–High)
Vendor (416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67) PRIMARY
7.0 HIGH
AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
vuln.today AI
7.0 HIGH

Local vector and high complexity reflect the required module-removal sequence; PR:L for /dev/tpmrm group access; full C/I/A for kernel use-after-free.

3.1 AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
4.0 AV:L/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
SUSE
7.8 HIGH
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Red Hat
5.5 LOW
qualitative

vuln.today treats the vendor’s rating as authoritative. A higher third-party CVSS (e.g. CISA-ADP) is shown for transparency but does not drive the headline severity.

CVSS VectorVendor: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
High
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

7
Analysis Updated
Aug 04, 2026 - 10:53 vuln.today
v3 (cvss_changed)
Analysis Updated
Aug 04, 2026 - 10:52 vuln.today
v2 (cvss_changed)
Re-analysis Queued
Aug 04, 2026 - 10:23 vuln.today
cvss_changed
CVSS changed
Aug 04, 2026 - 10:23 NVD
7.8 (HIGH) 7.0 (HIGH)
Analysis Generated
Mar 28, 2026 - 18:28 vuln.today
Patch released
Mar 28, 2026 - 18:28 nvd
Patch available
CVE Published
Feb 26, 2025 - 07:01 nvd
HIGH 7.8

DescriptionCVE.org

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

tpm: fix reference counting for struct tpm_chip

The following sequence of operations results in a refcount warning:

  1. Open device /dev/tpmrm.
  2. Remove module tpm_tis_spi.
  3. Write a TPM command to the file descriptor opened at step 1.

------------[ cut here ]------------ WARNING: CPU: 3 PID: 1161 at lib/refcount.c:25 kobject_get+0xa0/0xa4 refcount_t: addition on 0; use-after-free. Modules linked in: tpm_tis_spi tpm_tis_core tpm mdio_bcm_unimac brcmfmac sha256_generic libsha256 sha256_arm hci_uart btbcm bluetooth cfg80211 vc4 brcmutil ecdh_generic ecc snd_soc_core crc32_arm_ce libaes raspberrypi_hwmon ac97_bus snd_pcm_dmaengine bcm2711_thermal snd_pcm snd_timer genet snd phy_generic soundcore [last unloaded: spi_bcm2835] CPU: 3 PID: 1161 Comm: hold_open Not tainted 5.10.0ls-main-dirty #2 Hardware name: BCM2711 [<c0410c3c>] (unwind_backtrace) from [<c040b580>] (show_stack+0x10/0x14) [<c040b580>] (show_stack) from [<c1092174>] (dump_stack+0xc4/0xd8) [<c1092174>] (dump_stack) from [<c0445a30>] (__warn+0x104/0x108) [<c0445a30>] (__warn) from [<c0445aa8>] (warn_slowpath_fmt+0x74/0xb8) [<c0445aa8>] (warn_slowpath_fmt) from [<c08435d0>] (kobject_get+0xa0/0xa4) [<c08435d0>] (kobject_get) from [<bf0a715c>] (tpm_try_get_ops+0x14/0x54 [tpm]) [<bf0a715c>] (tpm_try_get_ops [tpm]) from [<bf0a7d6c>] (tpm_common_write+0x38/0x60 [tpm]) [<bf0a7d6c>] (tpm_common_write [tpm]) from [<c05a7ac0>] (vfs_write+0xc4/0x3c0) [<c05a7ac0>] (vfs_write) from [<c05a7ee4>] (ksys_write+0x58/0xcc) [<c05a7ee4>] (ksys_write) from [<c04001a0>] (ret_fast_syscall+0x0/0x4c) Exception stack(0xc226bfa8 to 0xc226bff0) bfa0: 00000000 000105b4 00000003 beafe664 00000014 00000000 bfc0: 00000000 000105b4 000103f8 00000004 00000000 00000000 b6f9c000 beafe684 bfe0: 0000006c beafe648 0001056c b6eb6944 ---[ end trace d4b8409def9b8b1f ]---

The reason for this warning is the attempt to get the chip->dev reference in tpm_common_write() although the reference counter is already zero.

Since commit 8979b02aaf1d ("tpm: Fix reference count to main device") the extra reference used to prevent a premature zero counter is never taken, because the required TPM_CHIP_FLAG_TPM2 flag is never set.

Fix this by moving the TPM 2 character device handling from tpm_chip_alloc() to tpm_add_char_device() which is called at a later point in time when the flag has been set in case of TPM2.

Commit fdc915f7f719 ("tpm: expose spaces via a device link /dev/tpmrm<n>") already introduced function tpm_devs_release() to release the extra reference but did not implement the required put on chip->devs that results in the call of this function.

Fix this by putting chip->devs in tpm_chip_unregister().

Finally move the new implementation for the TPM 2 handling into a new function to avoid multiple checks for the TPM_CHIP_FLAG_TPM2 flag in the good case and error cases.

AnalysisAI

Use-after-free in the Linux kernel TPM subsystem allows a local attacker to trigger kernel memory corruption by exploiting a reference counting defect in struct tpm_chip. The flaw manifests when a file descriptor to /dev/tpmrm is held open while the underlying TPM driver module (e.g., tpm_tis_spi) is unloaded, then a write is issued to that descriptor - causing tpm_common_write() to attempt a kobject_get() on an already-zeroed reference counter. No public exploit has been identified at time of analysis, and EPSS at 0.10% signals low opportunistic exploitation pressure.

Technical ContextAI

The vulnerability resides in the Linux kernel's TPM (Trusted Platform Module) character device subsystem, specifically in the reference counting logic for struct tpm_chip. Since commit 8979b02aaf1d ('tpm: Fix reference count to main device'), the extra reference that was intended to prevent a premature zero-count is never acquired because the TPM_CHIP_FLAG_TPM2 flag is not yet set at the point in tpm_chip_alloc() where the reference was taken. This leaves tpm_common_write() able to call tpm_try_get_ops() - which calls kobject_get() - against a chip->dev whose refcount has already reached zero after module removal. A second defect compounds this: tpm_chip_unregister() never calls put on chip->devs, so the tpm_devs_release() function introduced by commit fdc915f7f719 is never invoked. CWE-416 (Use After Free) precisely describes the root cause: dereferencing freed kernel object memory. Affected CPEs are cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel across multiple stable branches.

RemediationAI

Apply the kernel patches available via the upstream stable tree, with eight distinct commits addressing this issue across stable branches: key commits include 290e05f346d1, 2f928c0d5c02, 473a66f99cb8, 662893b4f6bd, 6e7baf84149f, 7e0438f83dc7, a27ed2f3695b, and cb64bd038bea (https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/). Distribution users should apply Red Hat RHSA-2023:6583 (https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:6583) or the applicable SUSE security update (https://www.suse.com/support/update/SUSE-SU-2025:1027/). As a compensating control where patching is not immediately possible, restrict write access to /dev/tpmrm to trusted processes only (adjust device permissions or use udev rules), and implement module-level controls (e.g., lockdown mode or module signing enforcement) to prevent unprivileged module unload. Note that restricting /dev/tpmrm access may impact TPM-dependent applications such as remote attestation agents or disk encryption tools.

Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

Severity: High
Product Status
Container suse/sle-micro-rancher/5.2:latest Image SLES15-SP3-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP3-HPC-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP3-Micro-5-2-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP3-Micro-5-2-BYOS-EC2-HVM Image SLES15-SP3-Micro-5-2-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP3-SAPCAL-Azure Affected
Container suse/sle-micro-rancher/5.3:latest Container suse/sle-micro-rancher/5.4:latest Image SLES15-SP4-BYOS Image SLES15-SP4-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP4-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP4-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP4-CHOST-BYOS Image SLES15-SP4-CHOST-BYOS-Aliyun Image SLES15-SP4-CHOST-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP4-CHOST-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP4-CHOST-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP4-CHOST-BYOS-SAP-CCloud Image SLES15-SP4-HPC-BYOS Image SLES15-SP4-HPC-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP4-HPC-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP4-HPC-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP4-HPC-EC2 Image SLES15-SP4-HPC-GCE Image SLES15-SP4-Hardened-BYOS Image SLES15-SP4-Hardened-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP4-Hardened-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP4-Hardened-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP4-Manager-Proxy-4-3-BYOS Image SLES15-SP4-Manager-Proxy-4-3-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP4-Manager-Proxy-4-3-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP4-Manager-Proxy-4-3-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP4-Manager-Server-4-3-BYOS Image SLES15-SP4-Manager-Server-4-3-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP4-Manager-Server-4-3-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP4-Manager-Server-4-3-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP4-Micro-5-3 Image SLES15-SP4-Micro-5-3-BYOS Image SLES15-SP4-Micro-5-3-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP4-Micro-5-3-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP4-Micro-5-3-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP4-Micro-5-3-EC2 Image SLES15-SP4-Micro-5-4 Image SLES15-SP4-Micro-5-4-BYOS Image SLES15-SP4-Micro-5-4-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP4-Micro-5-4-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP4-Micro-5-4-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP4-Micro-5-4-EC2 Image SLES15-SP4-Micro-5-4-GCE Image SLES15-SP4-SAP Image SLES15-SP4-SAP-Azure Image SLES15-SP4-SAP-EC2 Image SLES15-SP4-SAP-GCE Image SLES15-SP4-SAPCAL Image SLES15-SP4-SAPCAL-Azure Image SLES15-SP4-SAPCAL-EC2 Image SLES15-SP4-SAPCAL-GCE Affected
Container suse/sle-micro/base-5.5:2.0.4-5.8.160 Image SLES15-SP5-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP5-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP5-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP5-CHOST-BYOS-Aliyun Image SLES15-SP5-CHOST-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP5-CHOST-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP5-CHOST-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP5-CHOST-BYOS-GDC Image SLES15-SP5-CHOST-BYOS-SAP-CCloud Image SLES15-SP5-EC2 Image SLES15-SP5-GCE Image SLES15-SP5-HPC-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP5-HPC-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP5-HPC-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP5-Hardened-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP5-Hardened-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP5-Hardened-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP5-Manager-Proxy-5-0-BYOS Image SLES15-SP5-Manager-Proxy-5-0-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP5-Manager-Proxy-5-0-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP5-Manager-Proxy-5-0-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP5-Manager-Server-5-0 Image SLES15-SP5-Manager-Server-5-0-Azure-llc Image SLES15-SP5-Manager-Server-5-0-Azure-ltd Image SLES15-SP5-Manager-Server-5-0-BYOS Image SLES15-SP5-Manager-Server-5-0-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP5-Manager-Server-5-0-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP5-Manager-Server-5-0-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP5-Manager-Server-5-0-EC2-llc Image SLES15-SP5-Manager-Server-5-0-EC2-ltd Image SLES15-SP5-Micro-5-5 Image SLES15-SP5-Micro-5-5-Azure Image SLES15-SP5-Micro-5-5-BYOS Image SLES15-SP5-Micro-5-5-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP5-Micro-5-5-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP5-Micro-5-5-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP5-Micro-5-5-EC2 Image SLES15-SP5-Micro-5-5-GCE Image SLES15-SP5-SAPCAL-Azure Image SLES15-SP5-SAPCAL-EC2 Image SLES15-SP5-SAPCAL-GCE Affected
Container suse/sle-micro/kvm-5.5:2.0.4-3.5.304 Affected
Container suse/sle-micro/rt-5.5:2.0.4-4.5.352 Affected

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CVE-2022-49287 vulnerability details – vuln.today

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