KVM: Don't null dereference ops->destroy
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: Don't null dereference ops->destroy A KVM device cleanup happens in either of two callbacks: 1) destroy() which is called when the VM is being destroyed; 2) release() which is called when a device fd is closed. Most KVM devices use 1) but Book3s's interrupt controller KVM devices (XICS, XIVE, XIVE-native) use 2) as they need to close and reopen during the machine execution. The error handling in kvm_ioctl_create_device() assumes destroy() is always defined which leads to NULL dereference as discovered by Syzkaller. This adds a checks for destroy!=NULL and adds a missing release(). This is not changing kvm_destroy_devices() as devices with defined release() should have been removed from the KVM devices list by then.
- Products
- Kernel
- Affected versions
- Not specified
- Fixed versions
- 5.10.134, 5.15.58, 5.18.15, 5.4.210
- CVEs
- CVE-2022-49568
- Confirmed fixed CVEs
- Not specified
- Updated in this feed
- 7 Nov 2026, 18:45 UTC · Revision 1
Source evidence
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: Don't null dereference ops->destroy A KVM device cleanup happens in either of two callbacks: 1) destroy() which is called when the VM is being destroyed; 2) release() which is called when a device fd is closed. Most KVM devices use 1) but Book3s's interrupt controller KVM devices (XICS, XIVE, XIVE-native) use 2) as they need to close and reopen during the machine execution. The error handling in kvm_ioctl_create_device() assumes destroy() is always defined which leads to NULL dereference as discovered by Syzkaller. This adds a checks for destroy!=NULL and adds a missing release(). This is not changing kvm_destroy_devices() as devices with defined release() should have been removed from the KVM devices list by then.
osv:CVE-2022-49568
Kernel
Fixed versions: 5.4.210, 5.10.134, 5.15.58, 5.18.15
Complete source record
{
"id": "d27ffc192109b255f4df2e293fd1d6e29c1296b3081878fec1bafb6d94197334",
"url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49568",
"method": "structured",
"payload": {
"kind": "advisory",
"title": "KVM: Don't null dereference ops->destroy",
"summary": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: Don't null dereference ops->destroy A KVM device cleanup happens in either of two callbacks: 1) destroy() which is called when the VM is being destroyed; 2) release() which is called when a device fd is closed. Most KVM devices use 1) but Book3s's interrupt controller KVM devices (XICS, XIVE, XIVE-native) use 2) as they need to close and reopen during the machine execution. The error handling in kvm_ioctl_create_device() assumes destroy() is always defined which leads to NULL dereference as discovered by Syzkaller. This adds a checks for destroy!=NULL and adds a missing release(). This is not changing kvm_destroy_devices() as devices with defined release() should have been removed from the KVM devices list by then.",
"evidence": "osv:CVE-2022-49568",
"products": [
{
"name": {
"value": "Kernel",
"evidence": "/affected/1/package/name"
},
"prerequisites": [],
"fixed_versions": [
{
"value": "5.4.210",
"evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
},
{
"value": "5.10.134",
"evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
},
{
"value": "5.15.58",
"evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
},
{
"value": "5.18.15",
"evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
}
],
"affected_versions": []
}
],
"severity": "medium",
"structured": {
"id": "CVE-2022-49568",
"aliases": [
"CVE-2022-49568"
],
"metrics": [
{
"type": "CVSS_V3",
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
}
],
"affected": [
{
"ranges": [
{
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"type": "GIT",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "852b6d57dc7fa378019786fa84727036e56839ea"
},
{
"fixed": "170465715a60cbb7876e6b961b21bd3225469da8"
},
{
"fixed": "3616776bc51cd3262bb1be60cc01c72e0a1959cf"
},
{
"fixed": "e91665fbbf3ccb268b268a7d71a6513538d813ac"
},
{
"fixed": "d4a5a79b780891c5cbdfdc6124d46fdf8d13dba1"
},
{
"fixed": "e8bc2427018826e02add7b0ed0fc625a60390ae5"
}
]
}
],
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2022-49568.json"
}
},
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "3.10.0"
},
{
"fixed": "5.4.210"
}
]
},
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "5.5.0"
},
{
"fixed": "5.10.134"
}
]
},
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "5.11.0"
},
{
"fixed": "5.15.58"
}
]
},
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "5.16.0"
},
{
"fixed": "5.18.15"
}
]
}
],
"package": {
"name": "Kernel",
"ecosystem": "Linux"
},
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2022-49568.json"
}
}
],
"modified": "2026-10-28T02:30:51.600862485Z",
"provider": "osv",
"references": [
"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/170465715a60cbb7876e6b961b21bd3225469da8",
"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3616776bc51cd3262bb1be60cc01c72e0a1959cf",
"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d4a5a79b780891c5cbdfdc6124d46fdf8d13dba1",
"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e8bc2427018826e02add7b0ed0fc625a60390ae5",
"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e91665fbbf3ccb268b268a7d71a6513538d813ac",
"https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2022/49xxx/CVE-2022-49568.json",
"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49568",
"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git"
],
"provider_metadata": {
"cna_assigner": "Linux",
"osv_generated_from": "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2022/49xxx/CVE-2022-49568.json"
}
},
"related_cves": [
{
"value": "CVE-2022-49568",
"evidence": "/id"
}
],
"security_relevant": true,
"severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
},
"source_id": "core-osv",
"document_id": 520123,
"published_at": "2025-02-26T02:23:12.722+00:00"
}