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CVE Record

CVE-2022-50231: crypto: arm64/poly1305 - fix a read out-of-bound

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: crypto: arm64/poly1305 - fix a read out-of-bound A kasan error was reported during fuzzing: BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in neon_poly1305_blocks.constprop.0+0x1b4/0x250 [poly1305_neon] Read of size 4 at addr ffff0010e293f010 by task syz-executor.5/1646715 CPU: 4 PID: 1646715 Comm: syz-executor.5 Kdump: loaded Not tainted 5.10.0.aarch64 #1 Hardware name: Huawei TaiShan 2280 /BC11SPCD, BIOS 1.59 01/31/2019 Call trace: dump_backtrace+0x0/0x394 show_stack+0x34/0x4c arch/arm64/kernel/stacktrace.c:196 __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:77 [inline] dump_stack+0x158/0x1e4 lib/dump_stack.c:118 print_address_description.constprop.0+0x68/0x204 mm/kasan/report.c:387 __kasan_report+0xe0/0x140 mm/kasan/report.c:547 kasan_report+0x44/0xe0 mm/kasan/report.c:564 check_memory_region_inline mm/kasan/generic.c:187 [inline] __asan_load4+0x94/0xd0 mm/kasan/generic.c:252 neon_poly1305_blocks.constprop.0+0x1b4/0x250 [poly1305_neon] neon_poly1305_do_update+0x6c/0x15c [poly1305_neon] neon_poly1305_update+0x9c/0x1c4 [poly1305_neon] crypto_shash_update crypto/shash.c:131 [inline] shash_finup_unaligned+0x84/0x15c crypto/shash.c:179 crypto_shash_finup+0x8c/0x140 crypto/shash.c:193 shash_digest_unaligned+0xb8/0xe4 crypto/shash.c:201 crypto_shash_digest+0xa4/0xfc crypto/shash.c:217 crypto_shash_tfm_digest+0xb4/0x150 crypto/shash.c:229 essiv_skcipher_setkey+0x164/0x200 [essiv] crypto_skcipher_setkey+0xb0/0x160 crypto/skcipher.c:612 skcipher_setkey+0x3c/0x50 crypto/algif_skcipher.c:305 alg_setkey+0x114/0x2a0 crypto/af_alg.c:220 alg_setsockopt+0x19c/0x210 crypto/af_alg.c:253 __sys_setsockopt+0x190/0x2e0 net/socket.c:2123 __do_sys_setsockopt net/socket.c:2134 [inline] __se_sys_setsockopt net/socket.c:2131 [inline] __arm64_sys_setsockopt+0x78/0x94 net/socket.c:2131 __invoke_syscall arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:36 [inline] invoke_syscall+0x64/0x100 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:48 el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0x220/0x230 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:155 do_el0_svc+0xb4/0xd4 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:217 el0_svc+0x24/0x3c arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:353 el0_sync_handler+0x160/0x164 arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:369 el0_sync+0x160/0x180 arch/arm64/kernel/entry.S:683 This error can be reproduced by the following code compiled as ko on a system with kasan enabled: #include <linux/module.h> #include <linux/crypto.h> #include <crypto/hash.h> #include <crypto/poly1305.h> char test_data[] = "\x00\x01\x02\x03\x04\x05\x06\x07" "\x08\x09\x0a\x0b\x0c\x0d\x0e\x0f" "\x10\x11\x12\x13\x14\x15\x16\x17" "\x18\x19\x1a\x1b\x1c\x1d\x1e"; int init(void) { struct crypto_shash *tfm = NULL; char *data = NULL, *out = NULL; tfm = crypto_alloc_shash("poly1305", 0, 0); data = kmalloc(POLY1305_KEY_SIZE - 1, GFP_KERNEL); out = kmalloc(POLY1305_DIGEST_SIZE, GFP_KERNEL); memcpy(data, test_data, POLY1305_KEY_SIZE - 1); crypto_shash_tfm_digest(tfm, data, POLY1305_KEY_SIZE - 1, out); kfree(data); kfree(out); return 0; } void deinit(void) { } module_init(init) module_exit(deinit) MODULE_LICENSE("GPL"); The root cause of the bug sits in neon_poly1305_blocks. The logic neon_poly1305_blocks() performed is that if it was called with both s[] and r[] uninitialized, it will first try to initialize them with the data from the first "block" that it believed to be 32 bytes in length. First 16 bytes are used as the key and the next 16 bytes for s[]. This would lead to the aforementioned read out-of-bound. However, after calling poly1305_init_arch(), only 16 bytes were deducted from the input and s[] is initialized yet again with the following 16 bytes. The second initialization of s[] is certainly redundent which indicates that the first initialization should be for r[] only. This patch fixes the issue by calling poly1305_init_arm64() instead o ---truncated---

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

CVE-2022-50231 is a Linux kernel bug in the ARM64 Poly1305 cryptography implementation. Under certain input handling, the kernel can read beyond allocated memory. The issue was found by fuzzing and fixed in Linux stable commits. No source provided shows active exploitation.

Executive priority

Treat as a routine kernel maintenance priority for ARM64 fleets. It does not currently warrant emergency response absent active exploitation evidence, but it should be included in normal security patch cycles.

Technical view

The flaw is a slab out-of-bounds read in arm64 NEON Poly1305, specifically neon_poly1305_blocks. The CVE describes incorrect initialization logic that treated insufficient input as a full 32-byte block. The trace involves Linux crypto shash and AF_ALG paths. Kernel stable commits replace the faulty initialization behavior.

Likely exposure

Exposure appears limited to ARM64 Linux systems using the affected Poly1305 NEON kernel code. Systems on other architectures are not indicated by the provided sources. Version impact should be confirmed against vendor kernel packages and the referenced stable commits.

Exploitation context

The source describes fuzzing and a KASAN-detected out-of-bounds read. It does not provide evidence of exploitation in the wild, and KEV status is false. Practical impact is not fully characterized in the provided data.

Researcher notes

The CVE record has no CVSS or CWE data. The affected-version listing is not fully self-explanatory, so rely on kernel stable commits and downstream vendor advisories for exact package mapping.

Mitigation direction

  • Update affected ARM64 Linux kernels through the distribution or vendor kernel channel.
  • Confirm the installed kernel includes one of the referenced stable fixes.
  • Prioritize systems exposing local workloads that can reach kernel crypto interfaces.
  • If no vendor advisory exists, track Linux stable backports for this CVE.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory ARM64 Linux hosts and their running kernel versions.
  • Check vendor changelogs for CVE-2022-50231 or referenced commit IDs.
  • Verify whether poly1305_neon is present or loadable on ARM64 systems.
  • Confirm production kernels are not older unfixed builds in affected branches.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
7

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

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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
6Source 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

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Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
LinuxLinuxf569ca16475155013525686d0f73bc379c67e635, f569ca16475155013525686d0f73bc379c67e635, f569ca16475155013525686d0f73bc379c67e635, f569ca16475155013525686d0f73bc379c67e635, f569ca16475155013525686d0f73bc379c67e635unaffected
LinuxLinux5.5, 0, 5.10.136, 5.15.60, 5.18.17, 5.19.1, 6.0affected
Weakness

CWE details

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