Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical
CVE-2022-28656
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedis_closing_session() allows users to consume RAM in the Apport process
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceThe is_closing_session() function in Apport (Ubuntu's crash reporter) contains a resource exhaustion vulnerability that allows local users to consume excessive RAM in the Apport process. The function apparently fails to properly limit or validate resource consumption during session management, enabling a denial-of-service condition through memory exhaustion.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
= 18.04= 20.04= 21.10= 22.04< 2.21.0CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify Apport is installedRun `dpkg -l | grep apport` or `apt list --installed 2>/dev/null | grep apport`Affected if Apport package is not installed on the system
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Check installed Apport versionRun `dpkg -l apport` or `apt-cache policy apport` to retrieve the exact version numberAffected if Version is less than 2.21.0, or the system is Ubuntu 18.04, 20.04, 21.10, or 22.04 with Apport installed
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Confirm Ubuntu versionRun `lsb_release -r` or `cat /etc/lsb-release` to identify the Ubuntu releaseAffected if System runs Ubuntu 18.04, 20.04, 21.10, or 22.04
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Check if Apport service is activeRun `systemctl status apport` or check if apport is in the process list with `ps aux | grep apport`Affected if Apport daemon/service is running and accepting crash reports
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Verify is_closing_session function existsInspect Apport source code if accessible: `dpkg -L apport | grep -E '\.py$' | xargs grep -l 'is_closing_session' 2>/dev/null`Affected if The is_closing_session function is present in the installed Apport version
The system is affected if it runs Ubuntu 18.04, 20.04, 21.10, or 22.04 with Apport installed at a version below 2.21.0 and the Apport service is active.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
dbcve · scoped2.21.0
Apply the vendor patch for CVE-2022-28656 to fix the is_closing_session() function to properly enforce resource limits and prevent unbounded RAM consumption by user sessions.
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Apport 2.21.0+)
- 1. Update package lists: sudo apt-get update
- 2. Upgrade Apport to the fixed version: sudo apt-get install --upgrade apport
- 3. Verify the installed version: apport-cli --version (should be >= 2.21.0)
- 4. If the system is running an older Ubuntu version (18.04, 20.04, 21.10), consider upgrading to Ubuntu 22.04 LTS to ensure all security patches are available
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Ubuntu Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-28656 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-28656 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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