CVE-2022-49899

A use-after-free vulnerability exists in the Linux kernel's fscrypt subsystem due to improper lifetime management of fscrypt_master_key structures when inline encryption is used. These keys were previously managed by the keyrings subsystem, which can arbitrarily delay their destruction, leading to potential use-after-free conditions after the underlying block crypto profile has already been freed. This can be triggered during filesystem unmount or inode eviction.

This flaw has already been remediated in recent versions, specifically Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 and 10. Older versions where fscrypt is disabled are not impacted. Therefore, the risk is contained to specific, unpatched earlier versions where fscrypt is actively in use.

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.