# CVE-2022-23308: Use after free in n/a

> A use-after-free vulnerability in libxml2 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service via crafted XML documents.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 26 Feb 2022
- **Updated:** 14 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2022-23308, ALSA-2022:0899, AZL-8862, CLSA-2022-1647254642, CLSA-2022-1647255690, CLSA-2022-1647255880, CLSA-2022-1647261009, CLSA-2022-1647261060, CLSA-2026-1769542154, DEBIAN-CVE-2022-23308, ECHO-b44e-67cc-223c, GHSA-8v47-xfh7-92fh, JLSEC-2025-74, MGASA-2022-0084, RHSA-2022:0899, RLSA-2022:0899, SUSE-SU-2022:0802-1, SUSE-SU-2022:0802-2, SUSE-SU-2022:1308-1, SUSE-SU-2022:14904-1, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-23308, USN-5324-1, openSUSE-SU-2022:0802-1, openSUSE-SU-2024:11950-1

## What is CVE-2022-23308?

CVE-2022-23308 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Apple Ipados, published on 26 Feb 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

valid.c in libxml2 before 2.9.13 has a use-after-free of ID and IDREF attributes.

Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-23308?

It affects 35 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `libxml2-devel` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 2.9.7-12.el8_5 |
| `libxml2-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:2.9.7-12.el8_5 |
| `libxml2-debugsource` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:2.9.7-12.el8_5 |
| `libxml2-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:2.9.7-12.el8_5 |
| `python3-libxml2-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:2.9.7-12.el8_5 |
| `libxml2` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 0:2.9.7-12.el8_5 |
| `libxml2-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 0:2.9.7-12.el8_5 |
| `libxml2-debugsource` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 0:2.9.7-12.el8_5 |
| `python3-libxml2` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 0:2.9.7-12.el8_5 |
| `python3-libxml2-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 0:2.9.7-12.el8_5 |
| `libxml2` | Rocky Linux:8 | All versions | 0:2.9.7-12.el8_5 |
| `python-libxml2-python` | SUSE:Enterprise Storage 6 | All versions | 2.9.7-3.40.1 |
| `python-libxml2-python` | SUSE:Enterprise Storage 7 | All versions | 2.9.7-3.40.1 |
| `libxml2` | SUSE:HPE Helion OpenStack 8 | All versions | 2.9.4-46.49.1 |
| `python-libxml2` | SUSE:HPE Helion OpenStack 8 | All versions | 2.9.4-46.49.1 |
| `python-libxml2-python` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1-ESPOS | All versions | 2.9.7-3.40.1 |
| `python-libxml2-python` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1-LTSS | All versions | 2.9.7-3.40.1 |
| `python-libxml2-python` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2-ESPOS | All versions | 2.9.7-3.40.1 |
| `python-libxml2-python` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2-LTSS | All versions | 2.9.7-3.40.1 |
| `python-libxml2-python` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15-ESPOS | All versions | 2.9.7-3.40.1 |
| `python-libxml2-python` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15-LTSS | All versions | 2.9.7-3.40.1 |
| `python-libxml2-python` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.2 | All versions | 2.9.7-3.40.1 |
| `python-libxml2-python` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP3 | All versions | 2.9.7-3.40.1 |
| `python-libxml2-python` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Python 2 15 SP3 | All versions | 2.9.7-3.40.1 |
| `libxml2` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Point of Sale 11 SP3 | All versions | 2.7.6-0.77.43.1 |
| `libxml2-python` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Point of Sale 11 SP3 | All versions | 2.7.6-0.77.43.1 |
| `python-libxml2-python` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP2 | All versions | 2.9.7-3.40.1 |
| `libxml2` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4-LTSS | All versions | 2.7.6-0.77.43.1 |
| `libxml2-python` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4-LTSS | All versions | 2.7.6-0.77.43.1 |
| `libxml2` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2-BCL | All versions | 2.9.4-46.49.1 |
| `python-libxml2` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2-BCL | All versions | 2.9.4-46.49.1 |
| `libxml2` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP3-BCL | All versions | 2.9.4-46.49.1 |
| `python-libxml2` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP3-BCL | All versions | 2.9.4-46.49.1 |
| `libxml2` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP3-LTSS | All versions | 2.9.4-46.49.1 |
| `python-libxml2` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP3-LTSS | All versions | 2.9.4-46.49.1 |
| `libxml2` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP4-LTSS | All versions | 2.9.4-46.49.1 |
| `python-libxml2` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP4-LTSS | All versions | 2.9.4-46.49.1 |
| `libxml2` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5 | All versions | 2.9.4-46.49.1 |
| `python-libxml2` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5 | All versions | 2.9.4-46.49.1 |
| `python-libxml2-python` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1-BCL | All versions | 2.9.7-3.40.1 |

Products: Apple Ipados, Apple Iphone Os, Apple Mac Os X, Apple Macos, Apple Tvos, Apple Watchos, Debian Debian Linux, Fedoraproject Fedora, Netapp Active Iq Unified Manager, Netapp Bootstrap Os, Netapp Clustered Data Ontap, Netapp Clustered Data Ontap Antivirus Connector, Netapp H300e Firmware, Netapp H300s Firmware, Netapp H410c Firmware, Netapp H410s Firmware, Netapp H500e Firmware, Netapp H500s Firmware, Netapp H700e Firmware, Netapp H700s Firmware and 15 more.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-23308?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2022-23308 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-23308 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Apple Ipados

- [CVE-2025-43300](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-43300/): Apple iOS, iPadOS, and macOS Out-of-Bounds Write (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-24201](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-24201/): Apple Multiple Products WebKit Out-of-Bounds Write (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-24085](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-24085/): Apple Multiple Products Use-After-Free (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-31200](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-31200/): Apple Multiple Products Memory Corruption (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-31201](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-31201/): Apple Multiple Products Arbitrary Read and Write (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-23308 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-23308 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Apple Ipados, published on 26 Feb 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-23308 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Apple Ipados. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-23308/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-23308/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-23308
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-23308
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-23308

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-23308/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.