Use After Free in Linux

CVE-2022-50243

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sctp: handle the error returned from sctp_auth_asoc_init_active_key When it returns an error from sctp_auth_asoc_init_active_key(), the active_key is actually not updated. The old sh_key will be freeed while it's still used as active key in asoc. Then an use-after-free will be triggered when sending patckets, as found by syzbot: sctp_auth_shkey_hold+0x22/0xa0 net/sctp/auth.c:112 sctp_set_owner_w net/sctp/socket.c:132 [inline] sctp_sendmsg_to_asoc+0xbd5/0x1a20 net/sctp/socket.c:1863 sctp_sendmsg+0x1053/0x1d50 net/sctp/socket.c:2025 inet_sendmsg+0x99/0xe0 net/ipv4/af_inet.c:819 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:714 [inline] sock_sendmsg+0xcf/0x120 net/socket.c:734 This patch is to fix it by not replacing the sh_key when it returns errors from sctp_auth_asoc_init_active_key() in sctp_auth_set_key(). For sctp_auth_set_active_key(), old active_key_id will be set back to asoc->active_key_id when the same thing happens.

Vulnerability class: Use-After-Free

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.002 (4.5th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 4th percentile — 4.5% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2022-50243: held from 0.002 to 0.002.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.002 · newest: 0.002 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2022-50243?
CVE-2022-50243 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under Use After Free. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2025-09-15.
How severe is CVE-2022-50243?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.