# CVE-2022-48869: USB: gadgetfs: Fix race between mounting and unmounting

> A race condition in the Linux kernel's gadgetfs driver allows local attackers to trigger a use-after-free, potentially leading to code execution or privilege escalation.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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:** 21 Aug 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-48869, GHSA-cvqf-8622-79m2, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-48869

## What is CVE-2022-48869?

CVE-2022-48869 is a medium-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 21 Aug 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:

USB: gadgetfs: Fix race between mounting and unmounting

The syzbot fuzzer and Gerald Lee have identified a use-after-free bug
in the gadgetfs driver, involving processes concurrently mounting and
unmounting the gadgetfs filesystem.  In particular, gadgetfs_fill_super()
can race with gadgetfs_kill_sb(), causing the latter to deallocate
the_device while the former is using it.  The output from KASAN says,
in part:

BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in instrument_atomic_read_write include/linux/instrumented.h:102 [inline]
BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in atomic_fetch_sub_release include/linux/atomic/atomic-instrumented.h:176 [inline]
BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in __refcount_sub_and_test include/linux/refcount.h:272 [inline]
BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in __refcount_dec_and_test include/linux/refcount.h:315 [inline]
BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in refcount_dec_and_test include/linux/refcount.h:333 [inline]
BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in put_dev drivers/usb/gadget/legacy/inode.c:159 [inline]
BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in gadgetfs_kill_sb+0x33/0x100 drivers/usb/gadget/legacy/inode.c:2086
Write of size 4 at addr ffff8880276d7840 by task syz-executor126/18689

CPU: 0 PID: 18689 Comm: syz-executor126 Not tainted 6.1.0-syzkaller #0
Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 10/26/2022
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
...
 atomic_fetch_sub_release include/linux/atomic/atomic-instrumented.h:176 [inline]
 __refcount_sub_and_test include/linux/refcount.h:272 [inline]
 __refcount_dec_and_test include/linux/refcount.h:315 [inline]
 refcount_dec_and_test include/linux/refcount.h:333 [inline]
 put_dev drivers/usb/gadget/legacy/inode.c:159 [inline]
 gadgetfs_kill_sb+0x33/0x100 drivers/usb/gadget/legacy/inode.c:2086
 deactivate_locked_super+0xa7/0xf0 fs/super.c:332
 vfs_get_super fs/super.c:1190 [inline]
 get_tree_single+0xd0/0x160 fs/super.c:1207
 vfs_get_tree+0x88/0x270 fs/super.c:1531
 vfs_fsconfig_locked fs/fsopen.c:232 [inline]

The simplest solution is to ensure that gadgetfs_fill_super() and
gadgetfs_kill_sb() are serialized by making them both acquire a new
mutex.

Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-48869?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-48869?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-48869 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-48869 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-2022-48869 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-48869 is a medium-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 21 Aug 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-2022-48869 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-2022-48869/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48869/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-48869
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-48869
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-48869

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48869/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.