CVE-2022-42720 Use after free in n/a

What is CVE-2022-42720?

CVE-2022-42720 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 13 Oct 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

Various refcounting bugs in the multi-BSS handling in the mac80211 stack in the Linux kernel 5.1 through 5.19.x before 5.19.16 could be used by local attackers (able to inject WLAN frames) to trigger use-after-free conditions to potentially execute code.

Weakness: CWE-416

Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-42720?

It affects 3 products.

Products include Debian Debian Linux, Fedoraproject Fedora, Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2022-42720?

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-2022-42720 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2022-42720 exists.

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 A-253642015, ALPINE-CVE-2022-42720, ASB-A-253642015, AZL-11116, DEBIAN-CVE-2022-42720, GHSA-f43w-w9qr-2mwm and 1 more.