# CVE-2022-48858: net/mlx5: Fix a race on command flush flow

> A race condition in the Linux kernel mlx5 driver causes a use-after-free, potentially leading to system crashes or denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 7.0 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 16 Jul 2024
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-48858, GHSA-8hqr-2pq7-7gv3, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-48858

## What is CVE-2022-48858?

CVE-2022-48858 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 16 Jul 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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

net/mlx5: Fix a race on command flush flow

Fix a refcount use after free warning due to a race on command entry.
Such race occurs when one of the commands releases its last refcount and
frees its index and entry while another process running command flush
flow takes refcount to this command entry. The process which handles
commands flush may see this command as needed to be flushed if the other
process released its refcount but didn't release the index yet. Fix it
by adding the needed spin lock.

It fixes the following warning trace:

refcount_t: addition on 0; use-after-free.
WARNING: CPU: 11 PID: 540311 at lib/refcount.c:25 refcount_warn_saturate+0x80/0xe0
...
RIP: 0010:refcount_warn_saturate+0x80/0xe0
...
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 mlx5_cmd_trigger_completions+0x293/0x340 [mlx5_core]
 mlx5_cmd_flush+0x3a/0xf0 [mlx5_core]
 enter_error_state+0x44/0x80 [mlx5_core]
 mlx5_fw_fatal_reporter_err_work+0x37/0xe0 [mlx5_core]
 process_one_work+0x1be/0x390
 worker_thread+0x4d/0x3d0
 ? rescuer_thread+0x350/0x350
 kthread+0x141/0x160
 ? set_kthread_struct+0x40/0x40
 ret_from_fork+0x1f/0x30
 </TASK>

Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free), CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-48858?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-48858?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-48858 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-48858 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-48858 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-48858 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 16 Jul 2024. 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-2022-48858 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. 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-2022-48858/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48858/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-48858
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-48858
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-48858

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48858/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.