CVE & CISA-KEV Catalog

CVE-2022-49850

MEDIUM
5.5
CVSS v3
NVD

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nilfs2: fix deadlock in nilfs_count_free_blocks() A semaphore deadlock can occur if nilfs_get_block() detects metadata corruption while locating data blocks and a superblock writeback occurs at the same time: task 1 task 2 ------ ------ * A file operation * nilfs_truncate() nilfs_get_block() down_read(rwsem A) <-- nilfs_bmap_lookup_contig() ... generic_shutdown_super() nilfs_put_super() * Prepare to write superblock * down_write(rwsem B) <-- nilfs_cleanup_super() * Detect b-tree corruption * nilfs_set_log_cursor() nilfs_bmap_convert_error() nilfs_count_free_blocks() __nilfs_error() down_read(rwsem A) <-- nilfs_set_error() down_write(rwsem B) <-- *** DEADLOCK *** Here, nilfs_get_block() readlocks rwsem A (= NILFS_MDT(dat_inode)->mi_sem) and then calls nilfs_bmap_lookup_contig(), but if it fails due to metadata corruption, __nilfs_error() is called from nilfs_bmap_convert_error() inside the lock section. Since __nilfs_error() calls nilfs_set_error() unless the filesystem is read-only and nilfs_set_error() attempts to writelock rwsem B (= nilfs->ns_sem) to write back superblock exclusively, hierarchical lock acquisition occurs in the order rwsem A -> rwsem B. Now, if another task starts updating the superblock, it may writelock rwsem B during the lock sequence above, and can deadlock trying to readlock rwsem A in nilfs_count_free_blocks(). However, there is actually no need to take rwsem A in nilfs_count_free_blocks() because it, within the lock section, only reads a single integer data on a shared struct with nilfs_sufile_get_ncleansegs(). This has been the case after commit aa474a220180 ("nilfs2: add local variable to cache the number of clean segments"), that is, even before this bug was introduced. So, this resolves the deadlock problem by just not taking the semaphore in nilfs_count_free_blocks().

How to fix

Remediation Available
linuxDebian
Fixed in:5.10.158-1CVE-2022-49850
Fixed in:6.0.10-1CVE-2022-49850
Fixed in:6.0.10-1CVE-2022-49850
Fixed in:6.0.10-1CVE-2022-49850

Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.

CVSS v3 Vector

Exploitability

Attack VectorLocal
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredLow
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged

Impact

ConfidentialityNone
IntegrityNone
AvailabilityHigh

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Exploit Intelligence

0.14%probability of exploitation in 30 days
4thpercentile

Low risk: more likely to be exploited than 4% of all known CVEs.

References

Related Vulnerabilities

Other CWE-667 vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all

CVESeverityCVSSEPSSExploitedFix
CVE-2019-10072High7.573%-Fix
CVE-2002-1850High7.517%-Fix
CVE-2009-2699High7.514%-Fix
CVE-2004-0174High7.512%--
CVE-2009-4272High7.511%--
CVE-2020-24606High8.65.2%-Fix
Embed a live status badge for CVE-2022-49850
CVE-2022-49850 severity badge

Markdown

[![CVE-2022-49850](https://tridentstack.com/cve/badge/CVE-2022-49850.svg)](https://tridentstack.com/cve/CVE-2022-49850)

HTML

<a href="https://tridentstack.com/cve/CVE-2022-49850"><img src="https://tridentstack.com/cve/badge/CVE-2022-49850.svg" alt="CVE-2022-49850"></a>

Find and fix vulnerabilities across your fleet

TridentStack Control continuously scans your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet for known vulnerabilities, prioritizes them by severity and active exploitation, and patches them automatically.

Start free

This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2025-10-01.