CVE-2022-50635
- Published: 2025-12-09T01:16:45.717
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
powerpc/kprobes: Fix null pointer reference in arch_prepare_kprobe()
I found a null pointer reference in arch_prepare_kprobe():
# echo ‘p cmdline_proc_show’ > kprobe_events
# echo ‘p cmdline_proc_show+16’ >> kprobe_events
Kernel attempted to read user page (0) – exploit attempt? (uid: 0)
BUG: Kernel NULL pointer dereference on read at 0x00000000
Faulting instruction address: 0xc000000000050bfc
Oops: Kernel access of bad area, sig: 11 [#1]
LE PAGE_SIZE=64K MMU=Radix SMP NR_CPUS=2048 NUMA PowerNV
Modules linked in:
CPU: 0 PID: 122 Comm: sh Not tainted 6.0.0-rc3-00007-gdcf8e5633e2e #10
NIP: c000000000050bfc LR: c000000000050bec CTR: 0000000000005bdc
REGS: c0000000348475b0 TRAP: 0300 Not tainted (6.0.0-rc3-00007-gdcf8e5633e2e)
MSR: 9000000000009033 CR: 88002444 XER: 20040006
CFAR: c00000000022d100 DAR: 0000000000000000 DSISR: 40000000 IRQMASK: 0
…
NIP arch_prepare_kprobe+0x10c/0x2d0
LR arch_prepare_kprobe+0xfc/0x2d0
Call Trace:
0xc0000000012f77a0 (unreliable)
register_kprobe+0x3c0/0x7a0
__register_trace_kprobe+0x140/0x1a0
__trace_kprobe_create+0x794/0x1040
trace_probe_create+0xc4/0xe0
create_or_delete_trace_kprobe+0x2c/0x80
trace_parse_run_command+0xf0/0x210
probes_write+0x20/0x40
vfs_write+0xfc/0x450
ksys_write+0x84/0x140
system_call_exception+0x17c/0x3a0
system_call_vectored_common+0xe8/0x278
— interrupt: 3000 at 0x7fffa5682de0
NIP: 00007fffa5682de0 LR: 0000000000000000 CTR: 0000000000000000
REGS: c000000034847e80 TRAP: 3000 Not tainted (6.0.0-rc3-00007-gdcf8e5633e2e)
MSR: 900000000280f033 CR: 44002408 XER: 00000000
The address being probed has some special:
cmdline_proc_show: Probe based on ftrace
cmdline_proc_show+16: Probe for the next instruction at the ftrace location
The ftrace-based kprobe does not generate kprobe::ainsn::insn, it gets
set to NULL. In arch_prepare_kprobe() it will check for:
…
prev = get_kprobe(p->addr – 1);
preempt_enable_no_resched();
if (prev && ppc_inst_prefixed(ppc_inst_read(prev->ainsn.insn))) {
…
If prev is based on ftrace, ‘ppc_inst_read(prev->ainsn.insn)’ will occur
with a null pointer reference. At this point prev->addr will not be a
prefixed instruction, so the check can be skipped.
Check if prev is ftrace-based kprobe before reading ‘prev->ainsn.insn’
to fix this problem.
[mpe: Trim oops]
Related CVE by CWE
No related CWE found.
Top CVE for Vendor
No vendor taxonomy on this entry.
Recently Exploited Similar Vulnerabilities
No recent KEV-listed items for this vendor/product.
How to fix CVE-2022-50635
Description: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: powerpc/kprobes: Fix null pointer reference in arch_prepare_kprobe() I found a null pointer reference in arch_prepare_kprobe(): # echo ‘p cmdline_proc_show’ > kprobe_events # echo ‘p cmdline_proc_show+16’ >> kprobe_events Kernel attempted to read user page (0) – exploit attempt? (uid: 0) BUG: Kernel NULL pointer dereference on […]
Exploit Difficulty: HARD
⏱️ Time to exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Required skills: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public exploits: Rare or not public
How to Fix:
- Check if you're running the affected product
- Update to the latest patched version
- If patching is not immediately possible: restrict network exposure, apply least-privilege access
- Test the fix in a staging environment first
- Review logs for signs of exploitation
- Monitor for IOCs (Indicators of Compromise)
- Enable automatic security updates
- Set up vulnerability monitoring
- Review and harden security configurations
Exploit Difficulty Assessment
Vulnerability Timeline
CVE details first published to NVD database
Added to this CVE tracking system
Detection Rules & IOCs
No specific detection rules generated for this vulnerability type.
No vendor/product data available.