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CVE Record

CVE-2022-48942: hwmon: Handle failure to register sensor with thermal zone correctly

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: hwmon: Handle failure to register sensor with thermal zone correctly If an attempt is made to a sensor with a thermal zone and it fails, the call to devm_thermal_zone_of_sensor_register() may return -ENODEV. This may result in crashes similar to the following. Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 00000000000003cd ... Internal error: Oops: 96000021 [#1] PREEMPT SMP ... pstate: 60400009 (nZCv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) pc : mutex_lock+0x18/0x60 lr : thermal_zone_device_update+0x40/0x2e0 sp : ffff800014c4fc60 x29: ffff800014c4fc60 x28: ffff365ee3f6e000 x27: ffffdde218426790 x26: ffff365ee3f6e000 x25: 0000000000000000 x24: ffff365ee3f6e000 x23: ffffdde218426870 x22: ffff365ee3f6e000 x21: 00000000000003cd x20: ffff365ee8bf3308 x19: ffffffffffffffed x18: 0000000000000000 x17: ffffdde21842689c x16: ffffdde1cb7a0b7c x15: 0000000000000040 x14: ffffdde21a4889a0 x13: 0000000000000228 x12: 0000000000000000 x11: 0000000000000000 x10: 0000000000000000 x9 : 0000000000000000 x8 : 0000000001120000 x7 : 0000000000000001 x6 : 0000000000000000 x5 : 0068000878e20f07 x4 : 0000000000000000 x3 : 00000000000003cd x2 : ffff365ee3f6e000 x1 : 0000000000000000 x0 : 00000000000003cd Call trace: mutex_lock+0x18/0x60 hwmon_notify_event+0xfc/0x110 0xffffdde1cb7a0a90 0xffffdde1cb7a0b7c irq_thread_fn+0x2c/0xa0 irq_thread+0x134/0x240 kthread+0x178/0x190 ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 Code: d503201f d503201f d2800001 aa0103e4 (c8e47c02) Jon Hunter reports that the exact call sequence is: hwmon_notify_event() --> hwmon_thermal_notify() --> thermal_zone_device_update() --> update_temperature() --> mutex_lock() The hwmon core needs to handle all errors returned from calls to devm_thermal_zone_of_sensor_register(). If the call fails with -ENODEV, report that the sensor was not attached to a thermal zone but continue to register the hwmon device.

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysisunknown

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

This Linux kernel bug can crash a system when a hardware sensor fails to attach to a thermal zone. The public record shows an availability issue in kernel hardware monitoring, not evidence of remote compromise or data theft.

Executive priority

Handle through normal kernel patch governance, with higher urgency for appliances, embedded systems, or production hosts where unexpected reboot or crash creates operational impact.

Technical view

The hwmon core did not correctly handle failures from devm_thermal_zone_of_sensor_register(), including -ENODEV. A later hwmon notification path could call thermal_zone_device_update() and reach mutex_lock() with an invalid pointer, causing a kernel NULL pointer dereference crash.

Likely exposure

Exposure is most likely on Linux systems using affected kernel builds with hwmon sensors tied to thermal zones. The source bundle does not prove every Linux host is affected; hardware, driver, and kernel configuration determine practical exposure.

Exploitation context

The source bundle says this is not in KEV and provides no evidence of active exploitation. The available evidence supports a crash scenario during sensor thermal-zone handling, with impact framed as system stability and availability.

Researcher notes

The record lacks CVSS, CWE, and exploit evidence. Analysis should stay bounded to the documented hwmon thermal registration failure and crash path. Validate against vendor kernels because stable fixes may be backported without matching upstream version numbers.

Mitigation direction

  • Apply Linux kernel vendor updates containing the referenced stable fixes.
  • Prioritize systems with hwmon sensors, thermal zones, or embedded hardware monitoring dependencies.
  • Check distribution advisories for backported fixes before relying on version strings alone.
  • If immediate patching is impossible, request vendor guidance for platform-specific risk reduction.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory Linux kernel versions and vendor patch levels across affected platforms.
  • Review kernel or distribution changelogs for CVE-2022-48942 or the referenced commits.
  • Confirm whether deployed hardware uses hwmon sensors registered with thermal zones.
  • Look for prior kernel Oops or NULL pointer crashes in hwmon thermal paths.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
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

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CVE-2022-48942 mapping review

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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
1ADP providers
5Source 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

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
LinuxLinux1597b374af22266266e1e20612208c4b11359ad4, 1597b374af22266266e1e20612208c4b11359ad4, 1597b374af22266266e1e20612208c4b11359ad4, 1597b374af22266266e1e20612208c4b11359ad4unaffected
LinuxLinux5.8, 0, 5.10.103, 5.15.26, 5.16.12, 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.