---
id: CVE-2022-49932
title: 'KVM: VMX: Do _all_ initialization before exposing /dev/kvm to userspace'
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  KVM: VMX: Do _all_ initialization before exposing /dev/kvm to userspace

  Call kvm_init() only after _all_ setup is complete, as kvm_init() exposes
  /dev/kvm to userspace…
severity: none
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= dbef2808af6c594922fe32833b30f55f35e9da6d <
    e136e969d268b9b89329c816c002e53f60e82985
  - >-
    Linux >= dbef2808af6c594922fe32833b30f55f35e9da6d <
    e28533c08023c4b319b7f2cd77f3f7c9204eb517
  - >-
    Linux >= dbef2808af6c594922fe32833b30f55f35e9da6d <
    e32b120071ea114efc0b4ddd439547750b85f618
  - Linux b2f7d0adc1260fa33ff3e992d18ff15873e68a67
  - Linux 2c0bf2560ca18abe1451db23b8ef8700c67cc44f
  - Linux f9971a898a815c2a6cce2932e91a576b28ed4cce
  - Linux 40888c31aca3a46f266f1f121679f8e1982df085
  - Linux cd3f438fbb9cb60da32dd2b665f7dc9baba1c4ad
  - Linux e35a2dc8c7f664ae8a9cc46d19985dc79bfc1083
  - Linux >= 4.9.220 < 4.10
  - Linux >= 4.14.177 < 4.15
  - Linux >= 4.19.116 < 4.20
  - Linux >= 5.4.33 < 5.5
  - Linux >= 5.5.18 < 5.6
  - Linux >= 5.6.5 < 5.7
  - Linux 5.7
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: partial
  timestamp: '2026-11-05T19:51:38.282450Z'
published: '2025-05-02'
updated: '2026-11-05'
sourceUpdated: '2026-11-05T20:00:11.780Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49932'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e136e969d268b9b89329c816c002e53f60e82985'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e28533c08023c4b319b7f2cd77f3f7c9204eb517'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e32b120071ea114efc0b4ddd439547750b85f618'
tags:
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00214
epssPercentile: 0.11868
ingestedAt: '2026-11-05T22:38:31.628Z'
---

## Overview

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

KVM: VMX: Do _all_ initialization before exposing /dev/kvm to userspace

Call kvm_init() only after _all_ setup is complete, as kvm_init() exposes
/dev/kvm to userspace and thus allows userspace to create VMs (and call
other ioctls).  E.g. KVM will encounter a NULL pointer when attempting to
add a vCPU to the per-CPU loaded_vmcss_on_cpu list if userspace is able to
create a VM before vmx_init() configures said list.

 BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000008
 #PF: supervisor write access in kernel mode
 #PF: error_code(0x0002) - not-present page
 PGD 0 P4D 0
 Oops: 0002 [#1] SMP
 CPU: 6 PID: 1143 Comm: stable Not tainted 6.0.0-rc7+ #988
 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 0.0.0 02/06/2015
 RIP: 0010:vmx_vcpu_load_vmcs+0x68/0x230 [kvm_intel]
  <TASK>
  vmx_vcpu_load+0x16/0x60 [kvm_intel]
  kvm_arch_vcpu_load+0x32/0x1f0 [kvm]
  vcpu_load+0x2f/0x40 [kvm]
  kvm_arch_vcpu_create+0x231/0x310 [kvm]
  kvm_vm_ioctl+0x79f/0xe10 [kvm]
  ? handle_mm_fault+0xb1/0x220
  __x64_sys_ioctl+0x80/0xb0
  do_syscall_64+0x2b/0x50
  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0
 RIP: 0033:0x7f5a6b05743b
  </TASK>
 Modules linked in: vhost_net vhost vhost_iotlb tap kvm_intel(+) kvm irqbypass

## Affected

- `Linux >= dbef2808af6c594922fe32833b30f55f35e9da6d < e136e969d268b9b89329c816c002e53f60e82985`
- `Linux >= dbef2808af6c594922fe32833b30f55f35e9da6d < e28533c08023c4b319b7f2cd77f3f7c9204eb517`
- `Linux >= dbef2808af6c594922fe32833b30f55f35e9da6d < e32b120071ea114efc0b4ddd439547750b85f618`
- `Linux b2f7d0adc1260fa33ff3e992d18ff15873e68a67`
- `Linux 2c0bf2560ca18abe1451db23b8ef8700c67cc44f`
- `Linux f9971a898a815c2a6cce2932e91a576b28ed4cce`
- `Linux 40888c31aca3a46f266f1f121679f8e1982df085`
- `Linux cd3f438fbb9cb60da32dd2b665f7dc9baba1c4ad`
- `Linux e35a2dc8c7f664ae8a9cc46d19985dc79bfc1083`
- `Linux >= 4.9.220 < 4.10`
- `Linux >= 4.14.177 < 4.15`
- `Linux >= 4.19.116 < 4.20`
- `Linux >= 5.4.33 < 5.5`
- `Linux >= 5.5.18 < 5.6`
- `Linux >= 5.6.5 < 5.7`
- `Linux 5.7`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.