CVE-2022-2978 Use after free in Kernel

What is CVE-2022-2978?

CVE-2022-2978 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 24 Aug 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

A flaw use after free in the Linux kernel NILFS file system was found in the way user triggers function security_inode_alloc to fail with following call to function nilfs_mdt_destroy. A local user could use this flaw to crash the system or potentially escalate their privileges on the system.

Weakness: CWE-416

Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-2978?

It affects 2 products.

Products include Debian Debian Linux, Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2022-2978?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.

Is CVE-2022-2978 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-2978 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux

• CVE-2015-3306 ProFTPD Improper Access Control Exploited Critical 10.0
• CVE-2025-49113 RoundCube Webmail Deserialization of Untrusted Data Exploited Critical 9.9
• CVE-2026-24061 GNU InetUtils Argument Injection Exploited Critical 9.8
• CVE-2025-39682 Linux Kernel Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions Exploited Critical 9.8
• CVE-2024-9680 Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free Exploited Critical 9.8

All Debian Debian Linux vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2022-2978, GHSA-mhfc-6hhr-w9gw, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-2978.