CVE-2022-49031

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2022-49031?

CVE-2022-49031 has a CVSS score of 7.1 (HIGH). This CVE describes an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in the Linux kernel's AFE4403 health sensor driver. An attacker with local access can read kernel memory beyond allocated bounds, potentially exposing sensitive information. This affects Linux systems using the AFE4403 health monitoring hardware.

7.1 HIGH

📋 TL;DR

This CVE describes an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in the Linux kernel's AFE4403 health sensor driver. An attacker with local access can read kernel memory beyond allocated bounds, potentially exposing sensitive information. This affects Linux systems using the AFE4403 health monitoring hardware.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Linux kernel with AFE4403 health sensor driver

Versions: Linux kernel versions before the fix commits (specific versions vary by distribution)

Operating Systems: Linux distributions using vulnerable kernel versions

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: Only affects systems with AFE4403 health monitoring hardware or when the driver is compiled into the kernel. The vulnerability is triggered by reading specific IIO device files.

📦 What is this software?

Linux Kernel by Linux

The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...

Learn more about Linux Kernel →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Kernel memory disclosure could leak sensitive information including cryptographic keys, passwords, or other privileged data, potentially enabling further privilege escalation attacks.

🟠

Likely Case

Information disclosure of kernel memory contents, which could be used to bypass security mechanisms or gather system intelligence for further attacks.

🟢

If Mitigated

Limited information disclosure with no direct code execution, but still revealing potentially sensitive kernel data.

🌐 Internet-Facing: LOW - Requires local access to the system to trigger the vulnerability through specific device file operations.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Local users or compromised services could exploit this to gather sensitive kernel information for privilege escalation attacks.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ⚠️ Yes

Weaponized: LIKELY

Unauthenticated Exploit: ✅ No

Complexity: LOW

The exploit requires local access and can be triggered with a simple command as shown in the description. The vulnerability is well-documented with multiple fix commits available.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: Fixed in Linux kernel stable releases via commits: 06c6ce21cec77dfa860d57e7a006000a57812efb, 2d6a437064ffbe685c67ddb16dfc0946074c6c3f, 58143c1ed5882c138a3cd2251a336fc8755f23d9, 726fa3e4ab97dcff1c745bdc4fb137366cb8d3df, 98afcb5f3be645d330c74c5194ba0d80e26f95e0

Vendor Advisory: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/06c6ce21cec77dfa860d57e7a006000a57812efb

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Update Linux kernel to a version containing the fix commits. 2. For distributions: Use package manager to update kernel package. 3. For custom kernels: Apply the relevant fix commits from kernel.org. 4. Reboot system to load patched kernel.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable AFE4403 driver module

linux

Prevent loading of the vulnerable driver if AFE4403 hardware is not needed

echo 'blacklist afe4403' >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-afe4403.conf
rmmod afe4403

Restrict device file access

linux

Limit access to the vulnerable IIO device files

chmod 600 /sys/bus/spi/devices/spi0.0/iio:device0/in_intensity*_raw
chown root:root /sys/bus/spi/devices/spi0.0/iio:device0/in_intensity*_raw

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Implement strict access controls to prevent unauthorized users from reading IIO device files
Monitor system logs for unusual access patterns to /sys/bus/spi/devices/spi0.0/iio:device0/ files

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check if AFE4403 driver is loaded: lsmod | grep afe4403. Check kernel version: uname -r and compare with patched versions.

Check Version:

uname -r

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify kernel version includes fix commits. Test vulnerability by attempting to trigger the OOB read with proper authorization.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Unusual access to /sys/bus/spi/devices/spi0.0/iio:device0/in_intensity*_raw files
Kernel logs showing KASAN out-of-bounds read errors

Network Indicators:

No network indicators - local vulnerability only

SIEM Query:

source="kernel" AND ("KASAN" OR "out-of-bounds" OR "afe4403") OR process="cat" AND path="/sys/bus/spi/devices/spi0.0/iio:device0/in_intensity*_raw"

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2022-49031

CVSS v3 Score: 7.1 (HIGH)

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

CWE: CWE-125

Published: October 21, 2024

Last Updated: October 24, 2024

📋 TL;DR

💻 Affected Systems

📦 What is this software?

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

Worst Case

Likely Case

If Mitigated

🎯 Exploit Status

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Instructions:

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable AFE4403 driver module

Restrict device file access

🧯 If You Can't Patch

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check Version:

Verify Fix Applied:

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Network Indicators:

SIEM Query:

📊 Metadata

🔗 References

📤 Share & Export

🔗 Related Vulnerabilities