# CVE-2022-48909: net/smc: fix connection leak

> A race condition in the Linux kernel SMC protocol can cause connection leaks, leading to resource exhaustion and 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:** 22 Aug 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-48909, GHSA-q2w7-x8j6-5gxc, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-48909

## What is CVE-2022-48909?

CVE-2022-48909 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 22 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:

net/smc: fix connection leak

There's a potential leak issue under following execution sequence :

smc_release  				smc_connect_work
if (sk->sk_state == SMC_INIT)
					send_clc_confirim
	tcp_abort();
					...
					sk.sk_state = SMC_ACTIVE
smc_close_active
switch(sk->sk_state) {
...
case SMC_ACTIVE:
	smc_close_final()
	// then wait peer closed

Unfortunately, tcp_abort() may discard CLC CONFIRM messages that are
still in the tcp send buffer, in which case our connection token cannot
be delivered to the server side, which means that we cannot get a
passive close message at all. Therefore, it is impossible for the to be
disconnected at all.

This patch tries a very simple way to avoid this issue, once the state
has changed to SMC_ACTIVE after tcp_abort(), we can actively abort the
smc connection, considering that the state is SMC_INIT before
tcp_abort(), abandoning the complete disconnection process should not
cause too much problem.

In fact, this problem may exist as long as the CLC CONFIRM message is
not received by the server. Whether a timer should be added after
smc_close_final() needs to be discussed in the future. But even so, this
patch provides a faster release for connection in above case, it should
also be valuable.

Weakness: CWE-401 (Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-48909?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-48909?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-48909 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-48909 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-2022-48909 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-48909 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 22 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-2022-48909 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-2022-48909/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48909/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-48909
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-48909
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-48909

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48909/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.