In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

powerpc/kprobes: Fix null pointer reference in arch_prepare_kprobe()

I found a null pointer reference in arch_prepare_kprobe():

# echo 'p cmdline_proc_show' > kprobe_events
# echo 'p cmdline_proc_show+16' >> kprobe_events
Kernel attempted to read user page (0) - exploit attempt? (uid: 0)
BUG: Kernel NULL pointer dereference on read at 0x00000000
Faulting instruction address: 0xc000000000050bfc
Oops: Kernel access of bad area, sig: 11 [#1]
LE PAGE_SIZE=64K MMU=Radix SMP NR_CPUS=2048 NUMA PowerNV
Modules linked in:
CPU: 0 PID: 122 Comm: sh Not tainted 6.0.0-rc3-00007-gdcf8e5633e2e #10
NIP: c000000000050bfc LR: c000000000050bec CTR: 0000000000005bdc
REGS: c0000000348475b0 TRAP: 0300 Not tainted (6.0.0-rc3-00007-gdcf8e5633e2e)
MSR: 9000000000009033 <SF,HV,EE,ME,IR,DR,RI,LE> CR: 88002444 XER: 20040006
CFAR: c00000000022d100 DAR: 0000000000000000 DSISR: 40000000 IRQMASK: 0
...
NIP arch_prepare_kprobe+0x10c/0x2d0
LR arch_prepare_kprobe+0xfc/0x2d0
Call Trace:
0xc0000000012f77a0 (unreliable)
register_kprobe+0x3c0/0x7a0
__register_trace_kprobe+0x140/0x1a0
__trace_kprobe_create+0x794/0x1040
trace_probe_create+0xc4/0xe0
create_or_delete_trace_kprobe+0x2c/0x80
trace_parse_run_command+0xf0/0x210
probes_write+0x20/0x40
vfs_write+0xfc/0x450
ksys_write+0x84/0x140
system_call_exception+0x17c/0x3a0
system_call_vectored_common+0xe8/0x278
--- interrupt: 3000 at 0x7fffa5682de0
NIP: 00007fffa5682de0 LR: 0000000000000000 CTR: 0000000000000000
REGS: c000000034847e80 TRAP: 3000 Not tainted (6.0.0-rc3-00007-gdcf8e5633e2e)
MSR: 900000000280f033 <SF,HV,VEC,VSX,EE,PR,FP,ME,IR,DR,RI,LE> CR: 44002408 XER: 00000000

The address being probed has some special:

cmdline_proc_show: Probe based on ftrace
cmdline_proc_show+16: Probe for the next instruction at the ftrace location

The ftrace-based kprobe does not generate kprobe::ainsn::insn, it gets
set to NULL. In arch_prepare_kprobe() it will check for:

...
prev = get_kprobe(p->addr - 1);
preempt_enable_no_resched();
if (prev && ppc_inst_prefixed(ppc_inst_read(prev->ainsn.insn))) {
...

If prev is based on ftrace, 'ppc_inst_read(prev->ainsn.insn)' will occur
with a null pointer reference. At this point prev->addr will not be a
prefixed instruction, so the check can be skipped.

Check if prev is ftrace-based kprobe before reading 'prev->ainsn.insn'
to fix this problem.

[mpe: Trim oops]

No CVSS v4.0

Attack Vector Local

Attack Complexity High

Privileges Required Low

Scope Unchanged

Confidentiality Impact High

Integrity Impact High

Availability Impact High

User Interaction None

No CVSS v3.0

No CVSS v2

This CVE is not in the KEV list.

The EPSS score is 0.00026.

Key SSVC decision points have not yet been added.

Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).

Vendor Product Default status Versions
Linux Linux unaffected
Version Status Constraints
b4657f7650babc9bfb41ce875abe41b18604a105 affected < 7f536a8cb62dd5c084f112373fc34cdb5168a813
b4657f7650babc9bfb41ce875abe41b18604a105 affected < 4eac4f6a86ae73ef4b772d37398beeba2fbfde4e
b4657f7650babc9bfb41ce875abe41b18604a105 affected < 5fd1b369387c53ee6c774ab86e32e362a1e537ac
b4657f7650babc9bfb41ce875abe41b18604a105 affected < 97f88a3d723162781d6cbfdc7b9617eefab55b19
Linux Linux affected
Version Status Constraints
5.8 affected —
0 unaffected < 5.8
5.15.75 unaffected ≤ 5.15.*
5.19.17 unaffected ≤ 5.19.*
6.0.3 unaffected ≤ 6.0.*
6.1 unaffected ≤ *

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References
Link Providers
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4eac4f6a86ae73ef4b772d37398beeba2fbfde4e cve-icon cve-icon
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5fd1b369387c53ee6c774ab86e32e362a1e537ac cve-icon cve-icon
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7f536a8cb62dd5c084f112373fc34cdb5168a813 cve-icon cve-icon
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/97f88a3d723162781d6cbfdc7b9617eefab55b19 cve-icon cve-icon
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2025120935-CVE-2022-50635-b2b8@gregkh/T cve-icon
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-50635 cve-icon
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-50635 cve-icon
History

Wed, 10 Dec 2025 12:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

 cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.0, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

threat_severity

Moderate

Tue, 09 Dec 2025 00:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: powerpc/kprobes: Fix null pointer reference in arch_prepare_kprobe() I found a null pointer reference in arch_prepare_kprobe(): # echo 'p cmdline_proc_show' > kprobe_events # echo 'p cmdline_proc_show+16' >> kprobe_events Kernel attempted to read user page (0) - exploit attempt? (uid: 0) BUG: Kernel NULL pointer dereference on read at 0x00000000 Faulting instruction address: 0xc000000000050bfc Oops: Kernel access of bad area, sig: 11 [#1] LE PAGE_SIZE=64K MMU=Radix SMP NR_CPUS=2048 NUMA PowerNV Modules linked in: CPU: 0 PID: 122 Comm: sh Not tainted 6.0.0-rc3-00007-gdcf8e5633e2e #10 NIP: c000000000050bfc LR: c000000000050bec CTR: 0000000000005bdc REGS: c0000000348475b0 TRAP: 0300 Not tainted (6.0.0-rc3-00007-gdcf8e5633e2e) MSR: 9000000000009033 <SF,HV,EE,ME,IR,DR,RI,LE> CR: 88002444 XER: 20040006 CFAR: c00000000022d100 DAR: 0000000000000000 DSISR: 40000000 IRQMASK: 0 ... NIP arch_prepare_kprobe+0x10c/0x2d0 LR arch_prepare_kprobe+0xfc/0x2d0 Call Trace: 0xc0000000012f77a0 (unreliable) register_kprobe+0x3c0/0x7a0 __register_trace_kprobe+0x140/0x1a0 __trace_kprobe_create+0x794/0x1040 trace_probe_create+0xc4/0xe0 create_or_delete_trace_kprobe+0x2c/0x80 trace_parse_run_command+0xf0/0x210 probes_write+0x20/0x40 vfs_write+0xfc/0x450 ksys_write+0x84/0x140 system_call_exception+0x17c/0x3a0 system_call_vectored_common+0xe8/0x278 --- interrupt: 3000 at 0x7fffa5682de0 NIP: 00007fffa5682de0 LR: 0000000000000000 CTR: 0000000000000000 REGS: c000000034847e80 TRAP: 3000 Not tainted (6.0.0-rc3-00007-gdcf8e5633e2e) MSR: 900000000280f033 <SF,HV,VEC,VSX,EE,PR,FP,ME,IR,DR,RI,LE> CR: 44002408 XER: 00000000 The address being probed has some special: cmdline_proc_show: Probe based on ftrace cmdline_proc_show+16: Probe for the next instruction at the ftrace location The ftrace-based kprobe does not generate kprobe::ainsn::insn, it gets set to NULL. In arch_prepare_kprobe() it will check for: ... prev = get_kprobe(p->addr - 1); preempt_enable_no_resched(); if (prev && ppc_inst_prefixed(ppc_inst_read(prev->ainsn.insn))) { ... If prev is based on ftrace, 'ppc_inst_read(prev->ainsn.insn)' will occur with a null pointer reference. At this point prev->addr will not be a prefixed instruction, so the check can be skipped. Check if prev is ftrace-based kprobe before reading 'prev->ainsn.insn' to fix this problem. [mpe: Trim oops]
Title powerpc/kprobes: Fix null pointer reference in arch_prepare_kprobe()
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References

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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2025-12-09T00:00:08.590Z

Reserved: 2025-12-08T23:57:43.370Z

Link: CVE-2022-50635

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Awaiting Analysis

Published: 2025-12-09T01:16:45.717

Modified: 2025-12-09T18:37:13.640

Link: CVE-2022-50635

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Moderate

Publid Date: 2025-12-09T00:00:00Z

Links: CVE-2022-50635 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.

Weaknesses

No weakness.