# CVE-2022-48912: netfilter: fix use-after-free in __nf_register_net_hook()

> A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel netfilter subsystem allows local attackers to potentially execute arbitrary code or escalate privileges.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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:** 22 Aug 2024
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-48912, GHSA-vcfw-6vgj-6mgp, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-48912

## What is CVE-2022-48912?

CVE-2022-48912 is a high-severity use after free 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:

netfilter: fix use-after-free in __nf_register_net_hook()

We must not dereference @new_hooks after nf_hook_mutex has been released,
because other threads might have freed our allocated hooks already.

BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in nf_hook_entries_get_hook_ops include/linux/netfilter.h:130 [inline]
BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in hooks_validate net/netfilter/core.c:171 [inline]
BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in __nf_register_net_hook+0x77a/0x820 net/netfilter/core.c:438
Read of size 2 at addr ffff88801c1a8000 by task syz-executor237/4430

CPU: 1 PID: 4430 Comm: syz-executor237 Not tainted 5.17.0-rc5-syzkaller-00306-g2293be58d6a1 #0
Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 01/01/2011
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:88 [inline]
 dump_stack_lvl+0xcd/0x134 lib/dump_stack.c:106
 print_address_description.constprop.0.cold+0x8d/0x336 mm/kasan/report.c:255
 __kasan_report mm/kasan/report.c:442 [inline]
 kasan_report.cold+0x83/0xdf mm/kasan/report.c:459
 nf_hook_entries_get_hook_ops include/linux/netfilter.h:130 [inline]
 hooks_validate net/netfilter/core.c:171 [inline]
 __nf_register_net_hook+0x77a/0x820 net/netfilter/core.c:438
 nf_register_net_hook+0x114/0x170 net/netfilter/core.c:571
 nf_register_net_hooks+0x59/0xc0 net/netfilter/core.c:587
 nf_synproxy_ipv6_init+0x85/0xe0 net/netfilter/nf_synproxy_core.c:1218
 synproxy_tg6_check+0x30d/0x560 net/ipv6/netfilter/ip6t_SYNPROXY.c:81
 xt_check_target+0x26c/0x9e0 net/netfilter/x_tables.c:1038
 check_target net/ipv6/netfilter/ip6_tables.c:530 [inline]
 find_check_entry.constprop.0+0x7f1/0x9e0 net/ipv6/netfilter/ip6_tables.c:573
 translate_table+0xc8b/0x1750 net/ipv6/netfilter/ip6_tables.c:735
 do_replace net/ipv6/netfilter/ip6_tables.c:1153 [inline]
 do_ip6t_set_ctl+0x56e/0xb90 net/ipv6/netfilter/ip6_tables.c:1639
 nf_setsockopt+0x83/0xe0 net/netfilter/nf_sockopt.c:101
 ipv6_setsockopt+0x122/0x180 net/ipv6/ipv6_sockglue.c:1024
 rawv6_setsockopt+0xd3/0x6a0 net/ipv6/raw.c:1084
 __sys_setsockopt+0x2db/0x610 net/socket.c:2180
 __do_sys_setsockopt net/socket.c:2191 [inline]
 __se_sys_setsockopt net/socket.c:2188 [inline]
 __x64_sys_setsockopt+0xba/0x150 net/socket.c:2188
 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline]
 do_syscall_64+0x35/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80
 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae
RIP: 0033:0x7f65a1ace7d9
Code: 28 00 00 00 75 05 48 83 c4 28 c3 e8 71 15 00 00 90 48 89 f8 48 89 f7 48 89 d6 48 89 ca 4d 89 c2 4d 89 c8 4c 8b 4c 24 08 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 c7 c1 b8 ff ff ff f7 d8 64 89 01 48
RSP: 002b:00007f65a1a7f308 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000036
RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000000000000006 RCX: 00007f65a1ace7d9
RDX: 0000000000000040 RSI: 0000000000000029 RDI: 0000000000000003
RBP: 00007f65a1b574c8 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: 0000000000000000
R10: 0000000020000000 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 00007f65a1b55130
R13: 00007f65a1b574c0 R14: 00007f65a1b24090 R15: 0000000000022000
 </TASK>

The buggy address belongs to the page:
page:ffffea0000706a00 refcount:0 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000000000000 index:0x0 pfn:0x1c1a8
flags: 0xfff00000000000(node=0|zone=1|lastcpupid=0x7ff)
raw: 00fff00000000000 ffffea0001c1b108 ffffea000046dd08 0000000000000000
raw: 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 00000000ffffffff 0000000000000000
page dumped because: kasan: bad access detected
page_owner tracks the page as freed
page last allocated via order 2, migratetype Unmovable, gfp_mask 0x52dc0(GFP_KERNEL|__GFP_NOWARN|__GFP_NORETRY|__GFP_COMP|__GFP_ZERO), pid 4430, ts 1061781545818, free_ts 1061791488993
 prep_new_page mm/page_alloc.c:2434 [inline]
 get_page_from_freelist+0xa72/0x2f50 mm/page_alloc.c:4165
 __alloc_pages+0x1b2/0x500 mm/page_alloc.c:5389
 __alloc_pages_node include/linux/gfp.h:572 [inline]
 alloc_pages_node include/linux/gfp.h:595 [inline]
 kmalloc_large_node+0x62/0x130 mm/slub.c:4438
 __kmalloc_node+0x35a/0x4a0 mm/slub.
---truncated---

Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-48912?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-48912?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-48912 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-48912 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-2022-48912 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-48912 is a high-severity use after free 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-2022-48912 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-2022-48912/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48912/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-48912
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-48912
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-48912

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48912/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.