# CVE-2022-36879: Use after free in n/a

> A double refcount drop in the Linux kernel's xfrm policy expansion can lead to use-after-free, enabling privilege escalation or denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 27 Jul 2022
- **Updated:** 14 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-10401, DEBIAN-CVE-2022-36879, GHSA-wwxv-fc92-xrw3, OESA-2022-1842, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-36879

## What is CVE-2022-36879?

CVE-2022-36879 is a medium-severity use after free vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 27 Jul 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An issue was discovered in the Linux kernel through 5.18.14. xfrm_expand_policies in net/xfrm/xfrm_policy.c can cause a refcount to be dropped twice.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-36879?

It affects 24 products.


Products: Debian Debian Linux, Linux kernel, Netapp A700s Firmware, Netapp Active Iq Unified Manager, Netapp Aff 500f Firmware, Netapp Aff 8300 Firmware, Netapp Aff 8700 Firmware, Netapp Aff A250 Firmware, Netapp Aff A400 Firmware, Netapp E-Series Santricity Os Controller, Netapp Fas 500f Firmware, Netapp Fas 8300 Firmware, Netapp Fas 8700 Firmware, Netapp Fas A250 Firmware, Netapp Fas A400 Firmware, Netapp H300s Firmware, Netapp H410c Firmware, Netapp H410s Firmware, Netapp H500s Firmware, Netapp H610c Firmware and 4 more.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-36879?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-36879 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-36879 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux

- [CVE-2015-3306](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3306/): ProFTPD Improper Access Control (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-49113](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-49113/): RoundCube Webmail Deserialization of Untrusted Data (critical 9.9, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-24061](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24061/): GNU InetUtils Argument Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-39682](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39682/): Linux Kernel Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-9680](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-9680/): Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-36879 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-36879 is a medium-severity use after free vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 27 Jul 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-36879 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Debian Debian Linux. 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-2022-36879/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-36879/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-36879
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-36879
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-36879

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-36879/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.