CVE-2022-50780 net: fix UAF issue in nfqnl_nf_hook_drop() when ops_init() failed
A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's netfilter subsystem allows local attackers to cause a denial of service or potentially execute code.
- 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
What is CVE-2022-50780?
CVE-2022-50780 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 Dec 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 UAF issue in nfqnl_nf_hook_drop() when ops_init() failed
When the ops_init() interface is invoked to initialize the net, but ops->init() fails, data is released. However, the ptr pointer in net->gen is invalid. In this case, when nfqnl_nf_hook_drop() is invoked to release the net, invalid address access occurs.
The process is as follows: setup_net() ops_init() data = kzalloc(...) ---> alloc "data" net_assign_generic() ---> assign "date" to ptr in net->gen ... ops->init() ---> failed ... kfree(data); ---> ptr in net->gen is invalid ... ops_exit_list() ... nfqnl_nf_hook_drop() *q = nfnl_queue_pernet(net) ---> q is invalid
The following is the Call Trace information: BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in nfqnl_nf_hook_drop+0x264/0x280 Read of size 8 at addr ffff88810396b240 by task ip/15855 Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x8e/0xd1 print_report+0x155/0x454 kasan_report+0xba/0x1f0 nfqnl_nf_hook_drop+0x264/0x280 nf_queue_nf_hook_drop+0x8b/0x1b0 __nf_unregister_net_hook+0x1ae/0x5a0 nf_unregister_net_hooks+0xde/0x130 ops_exit_list+0xb0/0x170 setup_net+0x7ac/0xbd0 copy_net_ns+0x2e6/0x6b0 create_new_namespaces+0x382/0xa50 unshare_nsproxy_namespaces+0xa6/0x1c0 ksys_unshare+0x3a4/0x7e0 __x64_sys_unshare+0x2d/0x40 do_syscall_64+0x35/0x80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0 </TASK>
Allocated by task 15855: kasan_save_stack+0x1e/0x40 kasan_set_track+0x21/0x30 __kasan_kmalloc+0xa1/0xb0 __kmalloc+0x49/0xb0 ops_init+0xe7/0x410 setup_net+0x5aa/0xbd0 copy_net_ns+0x2e6/0x6b0 create_new_namespaces+0x382/0xa50 unshare_nsproxy_namespaces+0xa6/0x1c0 ksys_unshare+0x3a4/0x7e0 __x64_sys_unshare+0x2d/0x40 do_syscall_64+0x35/0x80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0
Freed by task 15855: kasan_save_stack+0x1e/0x40 kasan_set_track+0x21/0x30 kasan_save_free_info+0x2a/0x40 ____kasan_slab_free+0x155/0x1b0 slab_free_freelist_hook+0x11b/0x220 __kmem_cache_free+0xa4/0x360 ops_init+0xb9/0x410 setup_net+0x5aa/0xbd0 copy_net_ns+0x2e6/0x6b0 create_new_namespaces+0x382/0xa50 unshare_nsproxy_namespaces+0xa6/0x1c0 ksys_unshare+0x3a4/0x7e0 __x64_sys_unshare+0x2d/0x40 do_syscall_64+0x35/0x80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0
Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50780?
How do I fix CVE-2022-50780?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.
Is CVE-2022-50780 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50780 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50780, GHSA-mpc6-67r3-hw66, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50780.