CVE-2022-48733

A flaw was found in the Btrfs file system in the Linux kernel. When an attempt to create a snapshot fails, the associated data structure is prematurely freed while remaining referenced in the active transaction list. A local user can exploit this issue to trigger a use-after-free condition when a subsequent process commits the transaction, leading to a system crash, denial of service (DoS), or potential arbitrary code execution.

This vulnerability is rated as Moderate severity because exploitation requires local access with privileges to invoke snapshot operations on a mounted Btrfs filesystem. The Btrfs filesystem is unsupported and not included in standard Red Hat Enterprise Linux releases, significantly mitigating exposure on enterprise deployments. On systems where Btrfs is active, an uncommitted failure during snapshot creation can trigger a use-after-free condition during transaction commit, potentially resulting in a system crash or local privilege escalation.

The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.