Cyber Resilience

CVE-2022-2586

Memory Safety in Canonical Ubuntu Linux 14.04 … 22.04

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedPublic PoCMemory Safety
Published
08 January 2024
Modified
28 October 2025
KEV Added
26 June 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H
EPSS Score 0.10 95th percentile
Risk Priority 75 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2022-2586 is a medium-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux. Its CVSS base score is 5.3 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203); ranked in the top 5% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

It was discovered that a nft object or expression could reference a nft set on a different nft table, leading to a use-after-free once that table was deleted. This vulnerability affects the nftables subsystem in the Linux kernel and is tracked as CWE-416 with a CVSS score of 5.3.

A local attacker with low privileges can exploit the flaw by crafting nftables configurations that cross table boundaries, resulting in memory corruption that may enable limited integrity impact or denial of service through a crash.

Ubuntu security notices USN-5557-1, USN-5560-1, and USN-5560-2, along with the upstream kernel patch posted to the netfilter-devel list, address the issue through updated kernel packages that prevent cross-table references in nft objects and expressions.

The associated EPSS score remains low with only minor fluctuation between its current value of 0.0275 and recorded peak of 0.0447.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

It was discovered that a nft object or expression could reference a nft set on a different nft table, leading to a use-after-free once that table was deleted.

CWE(s)
KEV Date Added
26 June 2024

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-3297Same product: Canonical Ubuntu Linux
CVE-2023-40283Same product: Canonical Ubuntu Linux
CVE-2023-3777Same product: Canonical Ubuntu Linux
CVE-2023-3567Same product: Canonical Ubuntu Linux
CVE-2023-3389Same product: Canonical Ubuntu Linux
CVE-2023-0266Same product: Linux Linux Kernelboth on KEV
CVE-2024-36971Same product: Linux Linux Kernelboth on KEV
CVE-2025-21929Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-53025Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2024-47748Same product: Linux Linux Kernel

Affected Assets

linux
linux kernel
6.0 · ≤ 5.19.17
canonical
ubuntu linux
14.04, 16.04, 18.04, 20.04, 22.04

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.3

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation can discover use-after-free bugs through dynamic analysis or fuzzing.

Engineering principles can require memory-safe constructs or languages that structurally avoid introducing use-after-free.

Process isolation confines the blast radius of use-after-free memory corruption to a single execution domain.

Memory protection controls limit exploitation impact by blocking unauthorized code execution from dangling pointers.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly incorporate memory-safety tooling and reviews that prevent most use-after-free defects.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes can discover use-after-free issues via scanning or analysis but do not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching removes known use-after-free instances after they have been introduced in released software.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing in development can detect use-after-free bugs before release.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates memory-safety practices that reduce use-after-free defects.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify memory-management rules that mitigate use-after-free.

prevents

Secure architecture principles include memory-safety design choices that limit use-after-free exposure.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly prescribe avoidance of use-after-free patterns.

prevents

Change-management processes help ensure memory-safety fixes are deployed consistently.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
  • V-248592 OL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
  • V-230279 RHEL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416
RHEL 9 (1 rule)
  • V-257794 RHEL 9 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416

References