# CVE-2022-49808: net: dsa: don't leak tagger-owned storage on switch driver unbind

> A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel DSA subsystem allows attackers to cause denial of service or execute code during switch driver unbind.

- **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:** 1 May 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49808, GHSA-m9hv-2rww-w638, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49808

## What is CVE-2022-49808?

CVE-2022-49808 is a medium-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 May 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: dsa: don't leak tagger-owned storage on switch driver unbind

In the initial commit dc452a471dba ("net: dsa: introduce tagger-owned
storage for private and shared data"), we had a call to
tag_ops->disconnect(dst) issued from dsa_tree_free(), which is called at
tree teardown time.

There were problems with connecting to a switch tree as a whole, so this
got reworked to connecting to individual switches within the tree. In
this process, tag_ops->disconnect(ds) was made to be called only from
switch.c (cross-chip notifiers emitted as a result of dynamic tag proto
changes), but the normal driver teardown code path wasn't replaced with
anything.

Solve this problem by adding a function that does the opposite of
dsa_switch_setup_tag_protocol(), which is called from the equivalent
spot in dsa_switch_teardown(). The positioning here also ensures that we
won't have any use-after-free in tagging protocol (*rcv) ops, since the
teardown sequence is as follows:

dsa_tree_teardown
-> dsa_tree_teardown_master
   -> dsa_master_teardown
      -> unsets master->dsa_ptr, making no further packets match the
         ETH_P_XDSA packet type handler
-> dsa_tree_teardown_ports
   -> dsa_port_teardown
      -> dsa_slave_destroy
         -> unregisters DSA net devices, there is even a synchronize_net()
            in unregister_netdevice_many()
-> dsa_tree_teardown_switches
   -> dsa_switch_teardown
      -> dsa_switch_teardown_tag_protocol
         -> finally frees the tagger-owned storage

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49808?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49808?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49808 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49808 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-2022-49808 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49808 is a medium-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 May 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-2022-49808 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-2022-49808/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49808/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49808
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49808
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49808

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49808/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.