LiveActive security incident?Get immediate response
CVE Record

CVE-2022-33981: drivers/block/floppy.c in the Linux kernel before 5.17.6 is vulnerable to a denial of service, because of a...

drivers/block/floppy.c in the Linux kernel before 5.17.6 is vulnerable to a denial of service, because of a concurrency use-after-free flaw after deallocating raw_cmd in the raw_cmd_ioctl function.

LowCVSS 3.3Not KEV-listedUpdated
Discuss exposureBack to CVEs
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysislow

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

CVE-2022-33981 is a low-severity Linux kernel flaw in the floppy disk driver. A local user could trigger a denial of service through a use-after-free condition. The documented impact is limited availability loss, not data theft or privilege escalation.

Executive priority

Treat this as routine patch hygiene, not an emergency. Remediate through normal kernel update cycles, with earlier action for shared Linux systems where local untrusted users or workloads exist.

Technical view

The flaw is a concurrency use-after-free in drivers/block/floppy.c, after raw_cmd is deallocated in raw_cmd_ioctl. It affects Linux kernels before 5.17.6 per the source description. CVSS 3.1 is 3.3, with local access, low privileges, no user interaction, and low availability impact.

Likely exposure

Exposure is most likely on systems running vulnerable Linux kernels where the floppy driver path is present and reachable by local users. Internet-facing exposure is not indicated by the CVSS vector or sources.

Exploitation context

The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or evidence of active exploitation. The attack vector is local with low privileges, so practical concern is multi-user systems, shared servers, or workloads allowing untrusted local code.

Researcher notes

The available evidence supports a local denial-of-service issue only. Affected-product metadata is incomplete in the source bundle, so validate exposure by kernel version, vendor backport status, and relevant distribution advisories rather than CPE data.

Mitigation direction

  • Update to Linux kernel 5.17.6 or a vendor backport containing the fix.
  • Apply relevant distribution security updates, such as Debian DSA or DLA advisories where applicable.
  • Check vendor guidance for temporary mitigations if immediate patching is unavailable.
  • Prioritize shared or multi-user Linux hosts before single-user endpoints.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory Linux kernel versions and identify systems below 5.17.6 or unpatched vendor equivalents.
  • Confirm whether vendor advisories apply to each distribution and kernel package line.
  • Review whether the floppy driver code path is enabled and reachable on affected hosts.
  • Track remediation evidence through package version, kernel build, and reboot status.
Prepared
Confidence
high
Sources
6

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.

ATT&CK lookup starting points

Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.

cwe · low confidence lookup

CWE-416: Exact CWE lookup

Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.

Open ATT&CK lookup
cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2022-33981 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

Open ATT&CK lookup
Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Low
CVSS
3.3 (3.1)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

1CVSS vectors
0Timeline events
0ADP providers
7Source links

CVSS vector scores

1 official score

We collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
3.3CVSS 3.1LowCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L1.81.4Primary CVE score

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.1 score

3.3Low
CVSS 3.1 vector shape for CVE-2022-33981Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NoneRequired
Scope
ChangedUnchanged
Confidentiality Impact
HighLowNone
Integrity Impact
HighLowNone
Availability Impact
HighLowNone

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
n/an/an/aListed
Weakness

CWE details

CWE-416

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.

CWE-416 · source CWE mapping

Use After Free

Use After Free represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.

Open CWE intelligenceSame-CWE CVEs