# CVE-2022-49006: tracing: Free buffers when a used dynamic event is removed

> A use-after-free in Linux kernel tracing allows local attackers to crash the system by reusing event type numbers after removing dynamic events.

- **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:** 21 Oct 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49006, GHSA-xjr6-8999-vr65, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49006

## What is CVE-2022-49006?

CVE-2022-49006 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 21 Oct 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:

tracing: Free buffers when a used dynamic event is removed

After 65536 dynamic events have been added and removed, the "type" field
of the event then uses the first type number that is available (not
currently used by other events). A type number is the identifier of the
binary blobs in the tracing ring buffer (known as events) to map them to
logic that can parse the binary blob.

The issue is that if a dynamic event (like a kprobe event) is traced and
is in the ring buffer, and then that event is removed (because it is
dynamic, which means it can be created and destroyed), if another dynamic
event is created that has the same number that new event's logic on
parsing the binary blob will be used.

To show how this can be an issue, the following can crash the kernel:

 # cd /sys/kernel/tracing
 # for i in `seq 65536`; do
     echo 'p:kprobes/foo do_sys_openat2 $arg1:u32' > kprobe_events
 # done

For every iteration of the above, the writing to the kprobe_events will
remove the old event and create a new one (with the same format) and
increase the type number to the next available on until the type number
reaches over 65535 which is the max number for the 16 bit type. After it
reaches that number, the logic to allocate a new number simply looks for
the next available number. When an dynamic event is removed, that number
is then available to be reused by the next dynamic event created. That is,
once the above reaches the max number, the number assigned to the event in
that loop will remain the same.

Now that means deleting one dynamic event and created another will reuse
the previous events type number. This is where bad things can happen.
After the above loop finishes, the kprobes/foo event which reads the
do_sys_openat2 function call's first parameter as an integer.

 # echo 1 > kprobes/foo/enable
 # cat /etc/passwd > /dev/null
 # cat trace
             cat-2211    [005] ....  2007.849603: foo: (do_sys_openat2+0x0/0x130) arg1=4294967196
             cat-2211    [005] ....  2007.849620: foo: (do_sys_openat2+0x0/0x130) arg1=4294967196
             cat-2211    [005] ....  2007.849838: foo: (do_sys_openat2+0x0/0x130) arg1=4294967196
             cat-2211    [005] ....  2007.849880: foo: (do_sys_openat2+0x0/0x130) arg1=4294967196
 # echo 0 > kprobes/foo/enable

Now if we delete the kprobe and create a new one that reads a string:

 # echo 'p:kprobes/foo do_sys_openat2 +0($arg2):string' > kprobe_events

And now we can the trace:

 # cat trace
        sendmail-1942    [002] .....   530.136320: foo: (do_sys_openat2+0x0/0x240) arg1=             cat-2046    [004] .....   530.930817: foo: (do_sys_openat2+0x0/0x240) arg1="������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������"
             cat-2046    [004] .....   530.930961: foo: (do_sys_openat2+0x0/0x240) arg1="������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������"
             cat-2046    [004] .....   530.934278: foo: (do_sys_openat2+0x0/0x240) arg1="������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������"
             cat-2046    [004] .....   530.934563: foo: (do_sys_openat2+0x0/0x240) arg1="���������������������������������������
---truncated---

Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49006?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49006?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49006 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49006 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-2022-49006 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49006 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 21 Oct 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-2022-49006 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-2022-49006/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49006/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49006
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49006
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49006

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49006/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.