# CVE-2022-49979: net: fix refcount bug in sk_psock_get (2)

> A refcount bug in the Linux kernel's SMC fallback mechanism can lead to memory leaks and potential denial of service.

- **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:** 18 Jun 2025
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49979, GHSA-q9gh-c678-j467, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49979

## What is CVE-2022-49979?

CVE-2022-49979 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 Jun 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: fix refcount bug in sk_psock_get (2)

Syzkaller reports refcount bug as follows:
------------[ cut here ]------------
refcount_t: saturated; leaking memory.
WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 3605 at lib/refcount.c:19 refcount_warn_saturate+0xf4/0x1e0 lib/refcount.c:19
Modules linked in:
CPU: 1 PID: 3605 Comm: syz-executor208 Not tainted 5.18.0-syzkaller-03023-g7e062cda7d90 #0
 <TASK>
 __refcount_add_not_zero include/linux/refcount.h:163 [inline]
 __refcount_inc_not_zero include/linux/refcount.h:227 [inline]
 refcount_inc_not_zero include/linux/refcount.h:245 [inline]
 sk_psock_get+0x3bc/0x410 include/linux/skmsg.h:439
 tls_data_ready+0x6d/0x1b0 net/tls/tls_sw.c:2091
 tcp_data_ready+0x106/0x520 net/ipv4/tcp_input.c:4983
 tcp_data_queue+0x25f2/0x4c90 net/ipv4/tcp_input.c:5057
 tcp_rcv_state_process+0x1774/0x4e80 net/ipv4/tcp_input.c:6659
 tcp_v4_do_rcv+0x339/0x980 net/ipv4/tcp_ipv4.c:1682
 sk_backlog_rcv include/net/sock.h:1061 [inline]
 __release_sock+0x134/0x3b0 net/core/sock.c:2849
 release_sock+0x54/0x1b0 net/core/sock.c:3404
 inet_shutdown+0x1e0/0x430 net/ipv4/af_inet.c:909
 __sys_shutdown_sock net/socket.c:2331 [inline]
 __sys_shutdown_sock net/socket.c:2325 [inline]
 __sys_shutdown+0xf1/0x1b0 net/socket.c:2343
 __do_sys_shutdown net/socket.c:2351 [inline]
 __se_sys_shutdown net/socket.c:2349 [inline]
 __x64_sys_shutdown+0x50/0x70 net/socket.c:2349
 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+0x46/0xb0
 </TASK>

During SMC fallback process in connect syscall, kernel will
replaces TCP with SMC. In order to forward wakeup
smc socket waitqueue after fallback, kernel will sets
clcsk->sk_user_data to origin smc socket in
smc_fback_replace_callbacks().

Later, in shutdown syscall, kernel will calls
sk_psock_get(), which treats the clcsk->sk_user_data
as psock type, triggering the refcnt warning.

So, the root cause is that smc and psock, both will use
sk_user_data field. So they will mismatch this field
easily.

This patch solves it by using another bit(defined as
SK_USER_DATA_PSOCK) in PTRMASK, to mark whether
sk_user_data points to a psock object or not.
This patch depends on a PTRMASK introduced in commit f1ff5ce2cd5e
("net, sk_msg: Clear sk_user_data pointer on clone if tagged").

For there will possibly be more flags in the sk_user_data field,
this patch also refactor sk_user_data flags code to be more generic
to improve its maintainability.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49979?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49979?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49979 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49979 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-2022-49979 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49979 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 Jun 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-2022-49979 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-2022-49979/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49979/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49979
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49979
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49979

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49979/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.