CVE-2022-1665
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows attackers to bypass Secure Boot protections on specific Red Hat Enterprise Linux kernel builds for IBM Power architecture. When exploited, it enables loading of untrusted code during the boot process. Only systems running specific pre-production kernel packages on IBM Power architecture with Secure Boot enabled are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise via bootkit or rootkit installation that persists across reboots, allowing full control of the system and potential data exfiltration.
Likely Case
Local attacker with physical or administrative access could load malicious kernel modules or boot components to gain elevated privileges.
If Mitigated
Systems not using the affected pre-production kernel packages or without Secure Boot enabled remain unaffected.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires local access and knowledge of the specific vulnerable kernel packages. The vulnerability is in the boot process, making detection difficult.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Updated kernel packages with Secure Boot lockdown patches applied
Vendor Advisory: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2089529
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Update affected kernel packages via yum update. 2. Verify the new kernel has Secure Boot lockdown patches. 3. Reboot the system to load the patched kernel.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Secure Boot
linuxTemporarily disable Secure Boot to prevent exploitation, though this reduces security
mokutil --disable-validation
Use Production Kernels
linuxEnsure only production kernel packages are installed and booted
yum remove kernel-*preproduction*
yum install kernel
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Monitor for unauthorized kernel module loading or boot process modifications
- Restrict physical and administrative access to affected systems
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if running pre-production kernel packages on IBM Power with Secure Boot enabled: 'uname -r' and 'mokutil --sb-state'Check Version:
uname -rVerify Fix Applied:
Verify kernel version after update and confirm Secure Boot lockdown is active: 'uname -r' and check for lockdown patches in kernel configuration📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unexpected kernel module loading
- Secure Boot validation failures
- Boot process anomalies in dmesg
Network Indicators:
- None - local exploitation only
SIEM Query:
source="dmesg" AND ("Secure Boot" OR "lockdown") AND ("fail" OR "bypass" OR "unauthorized")