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Unscored CVE-2022-49955 EUVD-2022-55237GHSA-q32g-q8h6-hf4v

powerpc/rtas: Fix RTAS MSR[HV] handling for Cell

Published Jun 18, 2025 · Updated Nov 5, 2026 · Assigned by Linux

Vendor: Linux Product: Linux Package: linux Package: linux Package: linux-allwinner-5.19 Package: linux-aws Package: linux-aws-5.0 Package: linux-aws-5.11 Package: linux-aws-5.13 Package: linux-aws-5.15 Package: linux-aws-5.19 Package: linux-aws-5.3 Package: linux-aws-5.8 Package: linux-aws-6.2 Package: linux-aws-6.5 Package: linux-aws-fips Package: linux-azure Package: linux-azure-5.11 Package: linux-azure-5.13 Package: linux-azure-5.15 Package: linux-azure-5.19 Package: linux-azure-5.3 Package: linux-azure-5.8 Package: linux-azure-6.2 Package: linux-azure-6.5 Package: linux-azure-edge Package: linux-azure-fde Package: linux-azure-fde-5.15 Package: linux-azure-fde-5.19 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.2 Package: linux-azure-fips Package: linux-bluefield Package: linux-fips Package: linux-gcp Package: linux-gcp-5.11 Package: linux-gcp-5.13 Package: linux-gcp-5.15 Package: linux-gcp-5.19 Package: linux-gcp-5.3 Package: linux-gcp-5.8 Package: linux-gcp-6.2 Package: linux-gcp-6.5 Package: linux-gcp-fips Package: linux-gke Package: linux-gke-4.15 Package: linux-gke-5.15 Package: linux-gke-5.4 Package: linux-gkeop Package: linux-gkeop-5.15 Package: linux-gkeop-5.4 Package: linux-hwe Package: linux-hwe-5.11 Package: linux-hwe-5.13 Package: linux-hwe-5.15 Package: linux-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-hwe-5.8 Package: linux-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-hwe-edge Package: linux-ibm Package: linux-ibm-5.15 Package: linux-intel-5.13 Package: linux-intel-iot-realtime Package: linux-intel-iotg Package: linux-intel-iotg-5.15 Package: linux-kvm Package: linux-lowlatency Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-nvidia Package: linux-nvidia-6.2 Package: linux-nvidia-6.5 Package: linux-nvidia-tegra Package: linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15 Package: linux-nvidia-tegra-igx Package: linux-oem Package: linux-oem-5.10 Package: linux-oem-5.13 Package: linux-oem-5.14 Package: linux-oem-5.17 Package: linux-oem-5.6 Package: linux-oem-6.0 Package: linux-oem-6.1 Package: linux-oem-6.5 Package: linux-oracle Package: linux-oracle-5.0 Package: linux-oracle-5.11 Package: linux-oracle-5.13 Package: linux-oracle-5.15 Package: linux-oracle-5.3 Package: linux-oracle-5.8 Package: linux-oracle-6.5 Package: linux-raspi Package: linux-raspi-realtime Package: linux-raspi2 Package: linux-realtime Package: linux-riscv Package: linux-riscv-5.11 Package: linux-riscv-5.15 Package: linux-riscv-5.19 Package: linux-riscv-5.8 Package: linux-riscv-6.5 Package: linux-starfive-5.19 Package: linux-starfive-6.2 Package: linux-starfive-6.5 Package: linux-vmware Package: linux-xilinx-zynqmp Platform: Linux Ecosystem: Debian Ecosystem: Ubuntu

Description

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

powerpc/rtas: Fix RTAS MSR[HV] handling for Cell

The semi-recent changes to MSR handling when entering RTAS (firmware)
cause crashes on IBM Cell machines. An example trace:

kernel tried to execute user page (2fff01a8) - exploit attempt? (uid: 0)
BUG: Unable to handle kernel instruction fetch
Faulting instruction address: 0x2fff01a8
Oops: Kernel access of bad area, sig: 11 [#1]
BE PAGE_SIZE=64K MMU=Hash SMP NR_CPUS=4 NUMA Cell
Modules linked in:
CPU: 0 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/0 Tainted: G W 6.0.0-rc2-00433-gede0a8d3307a #207
NIP: 000000002fff01a8 LR: 0000000000032608 CTR: 0000000000000000
REGS: c0000000015236b0 TRAP: 0400 Tainted: G W (6.0.0-rc2-00433-gede0a8d3307a)
MSR: 0000000008001002 <ME,RI> CR: 00000000 XER: 20000000
...
NIP 0x2fff01a8
LR 0x32608
Call Trace:
0xc00000000143c5f8 (unreliable)
.rtas_call+0x224/0x320
.rtas_get_boot_time+0x70/0x150
.read_persistent_clock64+0x114/0x140
.read_persistent_wall_and_boot_offset+0x24/0x80
.timekeeping_init+0x40/0x29c
.start_kernel+0x674/0x8f0
start_here_common+0x1c/0x50

Unlike PAPR platforms where RTAS is only used in guests, on the IBM Cell
machines Linux runs with MSR[HV] set but also uses RTAS, provided by
SLOF.

Fix it by copying the MSR[HV] bit from the MSR value we've just read
using mfmsr into the value used for RTAS.

It seems like we could also fix it using an #ifdef CELL to set MSR[HV],
but that doesn't work because it's possible to build a single kernel
image that runs on both Cell native and pseries.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Linux Linux 5.15.46 – < 5.16, 5.17.14 – < 5.18, 5.18.3 – < 5.19, 5.19 5.16

Fixed in Linux distributions

Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian 14 linux 6.0.2-1 —
Debian 13 linux 6.0.2-1 —
Debian 12 linux 6.0.2-1 —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu Nvidia-BlueField 22.04 LTS linux-bluefield No fix yet —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-riscv +2 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux +49 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-gke +28 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-gcp +14 No fix yet —
Show 5 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS linux-hwe-edge No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 22.04 LTS linux-realtime +1 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 22.04 LTS linux-fips +3 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-preview 22.04 LTS linux-fips +3 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-aws-5.15 +10 No fix yet —

Advisories 1

References