LiveActive security incident?Get immediate response
CVE Record

CVE-2022-48629: crypto: qcom-rng - ensure buffer for generate is completely filled

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: crypto: qcom-rng - ensure buffer for generate is completely filled The generate function in struct rng_alg expects that the destination buffer is completely filled if the function returns 0. qcom_rng_read() can run into a situation where the buffer is partially filled with randomness and the remaining part of the buffer is zeroed since qcom_rng_generate() doesn't check the return value. This issue can be reproduced by running the following from libkcapi: kcapi-rng -b 9000000 > OUTFILE The generated OUTFILE will have three huge sections that contain all zeros, and this is caused by the code where the test 'val & PRNG_STATUS_DATA_AVAIL' fails. Let's fix this issue by ensuring that qcom_rng_read() always returns with a full buffer if the function returns success. Let's also have qcom_rng_generate() return the correct value. Here's some statistics from the ent project (https://www.fourmilab.ch/random/) that shows information about the quality of the generated numbers: $ ent -c qcom-random-before Value Char Occurrences Fraction 0 606748 0.067416 1 33104 0.003678 2 33001 0.003667 ... 253 � 32883 0.003654 254 � 33035 0.003671 255 � 33239 0.003693 Total: 9000000 1.000000 Entropy = 7.811590 bits per byte. Optimum compression would reduce the size of this 9000000 byte file by 2 percent. Chi square distribution for 9000000 samples is 9329962.81, and randomly would exceed this value less than 0.01 percent of the times. Arithmetic mean value of data bytes is 119.3731 (127.5 = random). Monte Carlo value for Pi is 3.197293333 (error 1.77 percent). Serial correlation coefficient is 0.159130 (totally uncorrelated = 0.0). Without this patch, the results of the chi-square test is 0.01%, and the numbers are certainly not random according to ent's project page. The results improve with this patch: $ ent -c qcom-random-after Value Char Occurrences Fraction 0 35432 0.003937 1 35127 0.003903 2 35424 0.003936 ... 253 � 35201 0.003911 254 � 34835 0.003871 255 � 35368 0.003930 Total: 9000000 1.000000 Entropy = 7.999979 bits per byte. Optimum compression would reduce the size of this 9000000 byte file by 0 percent. Chi square distribution for 9000000 samples is 258.77, and randomly would exceed this value 42.24 percent of the times. Arithmetic mean value of data bytes is 127.5006 (127.5 = random). Monte Carlo value for Pi is 3.141277333 (error 0.01 percent). Serial correlation coefficient is 0.000468 (totally uncorrelated = 0.0). This change was tested on a Nexus 5 phone (msm8974 SoC).

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

This is a Linux kernel randomness quality bug in the Qualcomm RNG driver. On affected systems, a request for random bytes could succeed while part of the returned buffer was zeroed instead of random. The business risk is strongest for Qualcomm-based Linux devices relying on this driver for cryptographic randomness.

Executive priority

Treat as a targeted platform-risk issue, not a broad internet emergency. Prioritize embedded, mobile, appliance, and edge fleets using Qualcomm Linux kernels, because weak randomness can undermine cryptographic assurance even without a conventional exploit chain.

Technical view

The qcom-rng generate path did not ensure qcom_rng_read filled the destination buffer before returning success. When hardware status indicated data was unavailable, generated output could contain large zero regions. The fix changes qcom_rng_read/qcom_rng_generate behavior so successful calls return complete random buffers or report failure.

Likely exposure

Exposure is likely limited to Linux systems using the Qualcomm qcom-rng driver, especially embedded or mobile-class Qualcomm SoCs. The source notes testing on a Nexus 5 msm8974 device. Generic Linux systems without this driver or hardware dependency are less likely to be exposed.

Exploitation context

The bundle does not show KEV listing, active exploitation, public weaponization, or CVSS scoring. The cited evidence demonstrates degraded randomness quality, not a remote attack path. Impact depends on whether affected random output feeds keys, tokens, or other security-sensitive generation.

Researcher notes

Key evidence is the kernel fix rationale and before/after entropy statistics in the CVE description. The issue is correctness and entropy quality in the qcom-rng driver. Source data is incomplete for exact downstream distribution status, exploitability scoring, and all affected hardware models.

Mitigation direction

  • Apply vendor kernel updates containing the referenced stable qcom-rng fixes.
  • Prioritize Qualcomm-based Linux devices that depend on hardware RNG output.
  • Check distribution, device, or kernel maintainer advisories for supported patched builds.
  • Review cryptographic material generated on exposed devices during affected kernel use.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory Linux kernel versions and Qualcomm qcom-rng driver usage across devices.
  • Confirm whether deployed kernels include one of the referenced stable fixes.
  • Review device trees or kernel configuration for Qualcomm RNG dependency.
  • Assess whether security-sensitive keys or tokens were generated on affected systems.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
8

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.

cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2022-48629 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
Unknown
CVSS
Not scored
Known Exploited
No
Published
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.

0CVSS vectors
3Timeline events
2ADP providers
7Source links

SSVC decision data

CISA-ADPCISA Coordinator
Timestamp
Version
2.0.3
Exploitation: noneAutomatable: noTechnical Impact: partial

Vulnerability timeline

Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.

  1. CVE reservedCVE Program

    The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.

  2. CVE publishedCVE Program

    The CVE record was published.

  3. CVE updatedCVE Program

    The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.

ADP provider summaries

CISA-ADPCISA ADP Vulnrichment
other:ssvc
CVECVE Program Container
Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
LinuxLinuxceec5f5b59882b871a722ca4d49b767a09a4bde9, ceec5f5b59882b871a722ca4d49b767a09a4bde9, ceec5f5b59882b871a722ca4d49b767a09a4bde9, ceec5f5b59882b871a722ca4d49b767a09a4bde9, ceec5f5b59882b871a722ca4d49b767a09a4bde9, ceec5f5b59882b871a722ca4d49b767a09a4bde9unaffected
LinuxLinux4.19, 0, 4.19.236, 5.4.187, 5.10.108, 5.15.31, 5.16.17, 5.17affected
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

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