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CVE Record

CVE-2022-49353: powerpc/papr_scm: don't requests stats with '0' sized stats buffer

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: powerpc/papr_scm: don't requests stats with '0' sized stats buffer Sachin reported [1] that on a POWER-10 lpar he is seeing a kernel panic being reported with vPMEM when papr_scm probe is being called. The panic is of the form below and is observed only with following option disabled(profile) for the said LPAR 'Enable Performance Information Collection' in the HMC: Kernel attempted to write user page (1c) - exploit attempt? (uid: 0) BUG: Kernel NULL pointer dereference on write at 0x0000001c Faulting instruction address: 0xc008000001b90844 Oops: Kernel access of bad area, sig: 11 [#1] <snip> NIP [c008000001b90844] drc_pmem_query_stats+0x5c/0x270 [papr_scm] LR [c008000001b92794] papr_scm_probe+0x2ac/0x6ec [papr_scm] Call Trace: 0xc00000000941bca0 (unreliable) papr_scm_probe+0x2ac/0x6ec [papr_scm] platform_probe+0x98/0x150 really_probe+0xfc/0x510 __driver_probe_device+0x17c/0x230 <snip> ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception On investigation looks like this panic was caused due to a 'stat_buffer' of size==0 being provided to drc_pmem_query_stats() to fetch all performance stats-ids of an NVDIMM. However drc_pmem_query_stats() shouldn't have been called since the vPMEM NVDIMM doesn't support and performance stat-id's. This was caused due to missing check for 'p->stat_buffer_len' at the beginning of papr_scm_pmu_check_events() which indicates that the NVDIMM doesn't support performance-stats. Fix this by introducing the check for 'p->stat_buffer_len' at the beginning of papr_scm_pmu_check_events(). [1] https://lore.kernel.org/all/6B3A522A-6A5F-4CC9-B268-0C63AA6E07D3@linux.ibm.com

MediumCVSS 5.5Not KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

This Linux kernel issue can crash certain IBM POWER virtual persistent memory systems during driver probing. The business impact is availability: an affected LPAR may panic and reboot, not leak or corrupt data according to the supplied CVSS vector.

Executive priority

Treat as a targeted reliability risk, not a broad internet-facing emergency. Patch affected POWER vPMEM estates during the next practical kernel maintenance window, faster for critical workloads.

Technical view

In the powerpc papr_scm driver, papr_scm_pmu_check_events() failed to reject a zero-length stats buffer before calling drc_pmem_query_stats(). On vPMEM NVDIMM configurations without performance stats, this caused a NULL pointer write and kernel panic.

Likely exposure

Exposure appears narrow: Linux on POWER LPARs using papr_scm vPMEM/NVDIMM, especially where HMC performance information collection is disabled. The source lists specific Linux kernel commit/version identifiers, but no complete distro matrix.

Exploitation context

The CVSS vector is local, low-privilege, no user interaction, availability-only. The CVE is not marked KEV, and the supplied sources do not state active exploitation or public exploit availability.

Researcher notes

The root cause is CWE-476 NULL pointer dereference from missing stat_buffer_len validation. Evidence is specific to papr_scm probing on POWER-10 LPAR vPMEM when performance stats are unavailable.

Mitigation direction

  • Update to a Linux kernel containing the referenced stable fixes.
  • Check distribution or platform vendor advisories for backported kernel packages.
  • Prioritize affected POWER vPMEM LPARs where unexpected reboots are operationally significant.
  • Avoid inventing configuration workarounds; use vendor guidance for temporary risk reduction.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory POWER LPARs using vPMEM/NVDIMM with the papr_scm driver.
  • Verify running kernels include the referenced stable commits or vendor backports.
  • Review logs for papr_scm_probe, drc_pmem_query_stats, NULL dereference, or kernel panic traces.
  • Check whether HMC performance information collection is disabled on relevant LPARs.
Prepared
Confidence
high
Sources
5

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

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ATT&CK lookup starting points

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cwe · low confidence lookup

CWE-476: Exact CWE lookup

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cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2022-49353 mapping review

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Medium
CVSS
5.5 (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:H

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
3Timeline events
1ADP providers
3Source links

SSVC decision data

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

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
5.5CVSS 3.1MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H1.83.6CISA-ADP

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.1 score

5.5Medium
CVSS 3.1 vector shape for CVE-2022-49353Attack 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:H

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

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
cvssV3_1other:ssvc

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
LinuxLinuxb073096df4dec70d0436321b7093bad27ae91f9e, 0e0946e22f3665d27325d389ff45ade6e93f3678unaffected
LinuxLinux5.18.3unaffected
Weakness

CWE details

CWE-476

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

CWE-476 · source CWE mapping

NULL Pointer Dereference

NULL Pointer Dereference represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.

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