CVE-2022-50202

MEDIUM
Published Jun 18, 2025 Modified Nov 19, 2025

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: PM: hibernate: defer device probing when resuming from hibernation syzbot is reporting hung task at misc_open() [1], for there is a race window of AB-BA deadlock which involves probe_count variable. Currently wait_for_device_probe() from snapshot_open() from misc_open() can sleep forever with misc_mtx held if probe_count cannot become 0. When a device is probed by hub_event() work function, probe_count is incremented before the probe function starts, and probe_count is decremented after the probe function completed. There are three cases that can prevent probe_count from dropping to 0. (a) A device being probed stopped responding (i.e. broken/malicious hardware). (b) A process emulating a USB device using /dev/raw-gadget interface stopped responding for some reason. (c) New device probe requests keeps coming in before existing device probe requests complete. The phenomenon syzbot is reporting is (b). A process which is holding system_transition_mutex and misc_mtx is waiting for probe_count to become 0 inside wait_for_device_probe(), but the probe function which is called from hub_event() work function is waiting for the processes which are blocked at mutex_lock(&misc_mtx) to respond via /dev/raw-gadget interface. This patch mitigates (b) by deferring wait_for_device_probe() from snapshot_open() to snapshot_write() and snapshot_ioctl(). Please note that the possibility of (b) remains as long as any thread which is emulating a USB device via /dev/raw-gadget interface can be blocked by uninterruptible blocking operations (e.g. mutex_lock()). Please also note that (a) and (c) are not addressed. Regarding (c), we should change the code to wait for only one device which contains the image for resuming from hibernation. I don't know how to address (a), for use of timeout for wait_for_device_probe() might result in loss of user data in the image. Maybe we should require the userland to wait for the image device before opening /dev/snapshot interface.

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CVSS v3.1 Score

5.5
MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Affected Products

Vendor Product
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2022-50202? +
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: PM: hibernate: defer device probing when resuming from hibernation syzbot is reporting hung task at misc_open() [1], for there is a race window of AB-BA deadlock which involves probe_count variable. Currently wait_for_device_probe() from snapshot_open() from misc_open() can sleep forever with misc_mtx held if probe_count cannot become 0. When a device is probed by hub_event() work function, probe_count is incremented before the probe function starts, and probe_count is decremented after the probe function completed. There are three cases that can prevent probe_count from dropping to 0. (a) A device being probed stopped responding (i.e. broken/malicious hardware). (b) A process emulating a USB device using /dev/raw-gadget interface stopped responding for some reason. (c) New device probe requests keeps coming in before existing device probe requests complete. The phenomenon syzbot is reporting is (b). A process which is holding system_transition_mutex and misc_mtx is waiting for probe_count to become 0 inside wait_for_device_probe(), but the probe function which is called from hub_event() work function is waiting for the processes which are blocked at mutex_lock(&misc_mtx) to respond via /dev/raw-gadget interface. This patch mitigates (b) by deferring wait_for_device_probe() from snapshot_open() to snapshot_write() and snapshot_ioctl(). Please note that the possibility of (b) remains as long as any thread which is emulating a USB device via /dev/raw-gadget interface can be blocked by uninterruptible blocking operations (e.g. mutex_lock()). Please also note that (a) and (c) are not addressed. Regarding (c), we should change the code to wait for only one device which contains the image for resuming from hibernation. I don't know how to address (a), for use of timeout for wait_for_device_probe() might result in loss of user data in the image. Maybe we should require the userland to wait for the image device before opening /dev/snapshot interface. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.5 (MEDIUM).
How severe is CVE-2022-50202? +
CVE-2022-50202 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 5.5 out of 10, rated MEDIUM. This is a medium-severity vulnerability that should be remediated as part of regular maintenance.
What products are affected by CVE-2022-50202? +
CVE-2022-50202 affects products from linux, specifically: linux_kernel. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.
How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2022-50202? +
You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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