In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: i2c: Fix a potential use after free Free the adap structure only after we are done using it. This patch just moves the put_device() down a bit to avoid the use after free. [wsa: added comment to the code, added Fixes tag]
The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.