# CVE-2022-49183: net/sched: act_ct: fix ref leak when switching zones

> A reference leak in the Linux kernel's connection tracking action can lead to memory exhaustion and denial of service when switching network zones.

- **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:** 26 Feb 2025
- **Updated:** 1 Jun 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49183, GHSA-h8cc-85qr-g7ff, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2022-49183, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49183

## What is CVE-2022-49183?

CVE-2022-49183 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 26 Feb 2025. 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/sched: act_ct: fix ref leak when switching zones

When switching zones or network namespaces without doing a ct clear in
between, it is now leaking a reference to the old ct entry. That's
because tcf_ct_skb_nfct_cached() returns false and
tcf_ct_flow_table_lookup() may simply overwrite it.

The fix is to, as the ct entry is not reusable, free it already at
tcf_ct_skb_nfct_cached().

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49183?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49183?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49183 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49183 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-2022-49183 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49183 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 26 Feb 2025. 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-2022-49183 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-2022-49183/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49183/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49183
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49183
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49183

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49183/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.