Vulnerability Database

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Total vulnerabilities in the database

CVE-2022-50063 — linux / linux_kernel

NULL Pointer Dereference

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

net: dsa: felix: suppress non-changes to the tagging protocol

The way in which dsa_tree_change_tag_proto() works is that when dsa_tree_notify() fails, it doesn't know whether the operation failed mid way in a multi-switch tree, or it failed for a single-switch tree. So even though drivers need to fail cleanly in ds->ops->change_tag_protocol(), DSA will still call dsa_tree_notify() again, to restore the old tag protocol for potential switches in the tree where the change did succeeed (before failing for others).

This means for the felix driver that if we report an error in felix_change_tag_protocol(), we'll get another call where proto_ops == old_proto_ops. If we proceed to act upon that, we may do unexpected things. For example, we will call dsa_tag_8021q_register() twice in a row, without any dsa_tag_8021q_unregister() in between. Then we will actually call dsa_tag_8021q_unregister() via old_proto_ops->teardown, which (if it manages to run at all, after walking through corrupted data structures) will leave the ports inoperational anyway.

The bug can be readily reproduced if we force an error while in tag_8021q mode; this crashes the kernel.

echo ocelot-8021q > /sys/class/net/eno2/dsa/tagging echo edsa > /sys/class/net/eno2/dsa/tagging # -EPROTONOSUPPORT

Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000014 Call trace: vcap_entry_get+0x24/0x124 ocelot_vcap_filter_del+0x198/0x270 felix_tag_8021q_vlan_del+0xd4/0x21c dsa_switch_tag_8021q_vlan_del+0x168/0x2cc dsa_switch_event+0x68/0x1170 dsa_tree_notify+0x14/0x34 dsa_port_tag_8021q_vlan_del+0x84/0x110 dsa_tag_8021q_unregister+0x15c/0x1c0 felix_tag_8021q_teardown+0x16c/0x180 felix_change_tag_protocol+0x1bc/0x230 dsa_switch_event+0x14c/0x1170 dsa_tree_change_tag_proto+0x118/0x1c0

  • Published: Jun 18, 2025
  • Updated: Nov 14, 2025
  • CVE: CVE-2022-50063
  • Severity: Medium
  • Exploit:
  • CISA KEV:

CVSS v3:

  • Severity: Medium
  • Score: 5.5
  • AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CWEs:

Frequently Asked Questions

A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.

CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.

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Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.

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