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CVE Record

CVE-2022-49401: mm/page_owner: use strscpy() instead of strlcpy()

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/page_owner: use strscpy() instead of strlcpy() current->comm[] is not a string (no guarantee for a zero byte in it). strlcpy(s1, s2, l) is calling strlen(s2), potentially causing out-of-bound access, as reported by syzbot: detected buffer overflow in __fortify_strlen ------------[ cut here ]------------ kernel BUG at lib/string_helpers.c:980! invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN CPU: 0 PID: 4087 Comm: dhcpcd-run-hooks Not tainted 5.18.0-rc3-syzkaller-01537-g20b87e7c29df #0 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 01/01/2011 RIP: 0010:fortify_panic+0x18/0x1a lib/string_helpers.c:980 Code: 8c e8 c5 ba e1 fa e9 23 0f bf fa e8 0b 5d 8c f8 eb db 55 48 89 fd e8 e0 49 40 f8 48 89 ee 48 c7 c7 80 f5 26 8a e8 99 09 f1 ff <0f> 0b e8 ca 49 40 f8 48 8b 54 24 18 4c 89 f1 48 c7 c7 00 00 27 8a RSP: 0018:ffffc900000074a8 EFLAGS: 00010286 RAX: 000000000000002c RBX: ffff88801226b728 RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: ffff8880198e0000 RSI: ffffffff81600458 RDI: fffff52000000e87 RBP: ffffffff89da2aa0 R08: 000000000000002c R09: 0000000000000000 R10: ffffffff815fae2e R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffff88801226b700 R13: ffff8880198e0830 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 0000000000000000 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8880b9c00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00007f5876ad6ff8 CR3: 000000001a48c000 CR4: 00000000003506f0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000600 Call Trace: <IRQ> __fortify_strlen include/linux/fortify-string.h:128 [inline] strlcpy include/linux/fortify-string.h:143 [inline] __set_page_owner_handle+0x2b1/0x3e0 mm/page_owner.c:171 __set_page_owner+0x3e/0x50 mm/page_owner.c:190 prep_new_page mm/page_alloc.c:2441 [inline] get_page_from_freelist+0xba2/0x3e00 mm/page_alloc.c:4182 __alloc_pages+0x1b2/0x500 mm/page_alloc.c:5408 alloc_pages+0x1aa/0x310 mm/mempolicy.c:2272 alloc_slab_page mm/slub.c:1799 [inline] allocate_slab+0x26c/0x3c0 mm/slub.c:1944 new_slab mm/slub.c:2004 [inline] ___slab_alloc+0x8df/0xf20 mm/slub.c:3005 __slab_alloc.constprop.0+0x4d/0xa0 mm/slub.c:3092 slab_alloc_node mm/slub.c:3183 [inline] slab_alloc mm/slub.c:3225 [inline] __kmem_cache_alloc_lru mm/slub.c:3232 [inline] kmem_cache_alloc+0x360/0x3b0 mm/slub.c:3242 dst_alloc+0x146/0x1f0 net/core/dst.c:92

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

This is a Linux kernel memory-safety bug in the page owner debugging path. A task name buffer may lack a string terminator, and copying it with strlcpy can read past the buffer and trigger a kernel BUG. The provided evidence shows a syzbot crash, not real-world exploitation.

Executive priority

Treat as a patch-management issue, not an emergency, unless affected kernels are broadly deployed in critical workloads. The known evidence points to kernel crash risk, with no cited exploitation or remote attack path.

Technical view

In mm/page_owner, __set_page_owner_handle used strlcpy on current->comm. The source says current->comm is not guaranteed to be NUL-terminated, so strlcpy may call strlen past bounds, causing __fortify_strlen to panic. The fix replaces strlcpy with strscpy.

Likely exposure

Likely limited to systems running affected Linux 5.18-era kernels where page_owner code is present and active. The source bundle does not prove default distribution exposure, remote reachability, or affected vendor package ranges.

Exploitation context

No active exploitation is supported by the provided sources. CISA KEV status is false, and the only concrete trigger evidence is a syzbot-reported kernel crash during fuzzing.

Researcher notes

Evidence is narrow: the CVE text identifies the unsafe string copy and syzbot crash trace, but gives no CVSS, CWE, exploitability analysis, or distribution mapping. Focus validation on kernel version, commit presence, and page_owner configuration.

Mitigation direction

  • Update affected Linux kernels to versions containing the referenced stable fixes.
  • Check vendor advisories for distribution-specific fixed package versions.
  • Prioritize systems using affected 5.18 kernels or custom kernels with page_owner enabled.
  • Avoid inventing compensating controls; follow Linux vendor guidance where patching is delayed.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory kernel versions and compare them with vendor fixed releases.
  • Check whether page_owner support is configured or enabled on exposed systems.
  • Confirm the referenced stable commits are included in deployed kernel source or packages.
  • Review crash logs for fortify_panic or __fortify_strlen in mm/page_owner.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
4

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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CVE-2022-49401 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
0ADP providers
3Source links

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.

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
LinuxLinux865ed6a3278654ce4a55eb74c5283eeb82ad4699, 865ed6a3278654ce4a55eb74c5283eeb82ad4699unaffected
LinuxLinux5.18, 0, 5.18.3, 5.19affected
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

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