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Critical · 9.8 CVE-2025-38472 EUVD-2025-22890GHSA-979q-6jjc-29jh

netfilter: nf_conntrack: fix crash due to removal of uninitialised entry

Published Jul 28, 2025 · Updated Oct 15, 2026 · Assigned by Linux

Vendor: Linux Product: Linux Package: kernel Package: linux Package: linux Package: linux-allwinner-5.19 Package: linux-aws Package: linux-aws-5.0 Package: linux-aws-5.11 Package: linux-aws-5.13 Package: linux-aws-5.19 Package: linux-aws-5.3 Package: linux-aws-5.8 Package: linux-aws-6.14 Package: linux-aws-6.2 Package: linux-aws-6.5 Package: linux-aws-6.8 Package: linux-aws-fips Package: linux-azure Package: linux-azure-5.11 Package: linux-azure-5.13 Package: linux-azure-5.19 Package: linux-azure-5.3 Package: linux-azure-5.8 Package: linux-azure-6.11 Package: linux-azure-6.14 Package: linux-azure-6.2 Package: linux-azure-6.5 Package: linux-azure-6.8 Package: linux-azure-edge Package: linux-azure-fde Package: linux-azure-fde-5.19 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.14 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.2 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.8 Package: linux-azure-fips Package: linux-azure-nvidia Package: linux-azure-nvidia-6.14 Package: linux-bluefield Package: linux-fips Package: linux-gcp Package: linux-gcp-5.11 Package: linux-gcp-5.13 Package: linux-gcp-5.19 Package: linux-gcp-5.3 Package: linux-gcp-5.8 Package: linux-gcp-6.11 Package: linux-gcp-6.14 Package: linux-gcp-6.2 Package: linux-gcp-6.5 Package: linux-gcp-6.8 Package: linux-gcp-fips Package: linux-gke Package: linux-gke-4.15 Package: linux-gke-5.15 Package: linux-gke-5.4 Package: linux-gkeop Package: linux-gkeop-5.15 Package: linux-gkeop-5.4 Package: linux-hwe Package: linux-hwe-5.11 Package: linux-hwe-5.13 Package: linux-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-hwe-5.8 Package: linux-hwe-6.11 Package: linux-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-hwe-6.8 Package: linux-hwe-edge Package: linux-ibm Package: linux-ibm-6.8 Package: linux-intel Package: linux-intel-5.13 Package: linux-intel-iot-realtime Package: linux-lowlatency Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 Package: linux-nvidia Package: linux-nvidia-6.11 Package: linux-nvidia-6.2 Package: linux-nvidia-6.5 Package: linux-nvidia-6.8 Package: linux-nvidia-lowlatency Package: linux-nvidia-tegra Package: linux-oem Package: linux-oem-5.10 Package: linux-oem-5.13 Package: linux-oem-5.14 Package: linux-oem-5.17 Package: linux-oem-5.6 Package: linux-oem-6.0 Package: linux-oem-6.1 Package: linux-oem-6.11 Package: linux-oem-6.14 Package: linux-oem-6.5 Package: linux-oem-6.8 Package: linux-oracle Package: linux-oracle-5.0 Package: linux-oracle-5.11 Package: linux-oracle-5.13 Package: linux-oracle-5.3 Package: linux-oracle-5.8 Package: linux-oracle-6.14 Package: linux-oracle-6.5 Package: linux-oracle-6.8 Package: linux-raspi Package: linux-raspi-realtime Package: linux-raspi2 Package: linux-realtime Package: linux-realtime-6.14 Package: linux-realtime-6.8 Package: linux-riscv Package: linux-riscv-5.11 Package: linux-riscv-5.19 Package: linux-riscv-5.8 Package: linux-riscv-6.14 Package: linux-riscv-6.5 Package: linux-riscv-6.8 Package: linux-starfive-5.19 Package: linux-starfive-6.2 Package: linux-starfive-6.5 Package: linux-vmware Package: linux-xilinx Platform: Linux Ecosystem: Azure Linux Ecosystem: Debian Ecosystem: Ubuntu

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

netfilter: nf_conntrack: fix crash due to removal of uninitialised entry

A crash in conntrack was reported while trying to unlink the conntrack
entry from the hash bucket list:
[exception RIP: __nf_ct_delete_from_lists+172]
[..]
#7 [ff539b5a2b043aa0] nf_ct_delete at ffffffffc124d421 [nf_conntrack]
#8 [ff539b5a2b043ad0] nf_ct_gc_expired at ffffffffc124d999 [nf_conntrack]
#9 [ff539b5a2b043ae0] __nf_conntrack_find_get at ffffffffc124efbc [nf_conntrack]
[..]

The nf_conn struct is marked as allocated from slab but appears to be in
a partially initialised state:

ct hlist pointer is garbage; looks like the ct hash value
(hence crash).
ct->status is equal to IPS_CONFIRMED|IPS_DYING, which is expected
ct->timeout is 30000 (=30s), which is unexpected.

Everything else looks like normal udp conntrack entry. If we ignore
ct->status and pretend its 0, the entry matches those that are newly
allocated but not yet inserted into the hash:
- ct hlist pointers are overloaded and store/cache the raw tuple hash
- ct->timeout matches the relative time expected for a new udp flow
rather than the absolute 'jiffies' value.

If it were not for the presence of IPS_CONFIRMED,
__nf_conntrack_find_get() would have skipped the entry.

Theory is that we did hit following race:

cpu x cpu y cpu z
found entry E found entry E
E is expired <preemption>
nf_ct_delete()
return E to rcu slab
init_conntrack
E is re-inited,
ct->status set to 0
reply tuplehash hnnode.pprev
stores hash value.

cpu y found E right before it was deleted on cpu x.
E is now re-inited on cpu z. cpu y was preempted before
checking for expiry and/or confirm bit.

->refcnt set to 1
E now owned by skb
->timeout set to 30000

If cpu y were to resume now, it would observe E as
expired but would skip E due to missing CONFIRMED bit.

nf_conntrack_confirm gets called
sets: ct->status |= CONFIRMED
This is wrong: E is not yet added
to hashtable.

cpu y resumes, it observes E as expired but CONFIRMED:
<resumes>
nf_ct_expired()
-> yes (ct->timeout is 30s)
confirmed bit set.

cpu y will try to delete E from the hashtable:
nf_ct_delete() -> set DYING bit
__nf_ct_delete_from_lists

Even this scenario doesn't guarantee a crash:
cpu z still holds the table bucket lock(s) so y blocks:

wait for spinlock held by z

CONFIRMED is set but there is no
guarantee ct will be added to hash:
"chaintoolong" or "clash resolution"
logic both skip the insert step.
reply hnnode.pprev still stores the
hash value.

unlocks spinlock
return NF_DROP
<unblocks, then
crashes on hlist_nulls_del_rcu pprev>

In case CPU z does insert the entry into the hashtable, cpu y will unlink
E again right away but no crash occurs.

Without 'cpu y' race, 'garbage' hlist is of no consequence:
ct refcnt remains at 1, eventually skb will be free'd and E gets
destroyed via: nf_conntrack_put -> nf_conntrack_destroy -> nf_ct_destroy.

To resolve this, move the IPS_CONFIRMED assignment after the table
insertion but before the unlock.

Pablo points out that the confirm-bit-store could be reordered to happen
before hlist add resp. the timeout fixup, so switch to set_bit and
before_atomic memory barrier to prevent this.

It doesn't matter if other CPUs can observe a newly inserted entry right
before the CONFIRMED bit was set:

Such event cannot be distinguished from above "E is the old incarnation"
case: the entry will be skipped.

Also change nf_ct_should_gc() to first check the confirmed bit.

The gc sequence is:
1. Check if entry has expired, if not skip to next entry
2. Obtain a reference to the expired entry.
3. Call nf_ct_should_gc() to double-check step 1.

nf_ct_should_gc() is thus called only for entries that already failed an
expiry check. After this patch, once the confirmed bit check pas
---truncated---

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Linux Linux 5.18.13 – < 5.19, 5.19 5.19

Fixed in Linux distributions

Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian 14 linux 6.16.3-1 —
Debian 13 linux 6.12.41-1 DSA-5975-1
Debian 12 linux 6.1.147-1 DSA-5973-1
Debian 11 linux-6.1 6.1.153-1~deb11u1 DLA-4328-1
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu Nvidia-BlueField 24.04 LTS linux-bluefield 6.8.0-1016.20 —
Ubuntu 25.10 linux-azure-fde No fix yet —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux 6.8.0-100.100 USN-8028-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-aws +1 6.8.0-1046.49 USN-8028-5
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-aws-6.14 +2 6.14.0-1017.17~24.04.1 USN-7934-1, USN-7879-3
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure 6.8.0-1046.52 USN-8074-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure-fde 6.8.0-1046.53 —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure-nvidia 6.8.0-1039.42 —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gcp 6.8.0-1047.50 USN-8031-3
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gcp-6.14 6.14.0-1020.21~24.04.1 USN-7879-4
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gke 6.8.0-1043.48 USN-8031-3
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gkeop 6.8.0-1030.33 USN-8028-5
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-hwe-6.14 6.14.0-36.36~24.04.1 USN-7879-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-ibm 6.8.0-1044.44 USN-8028-8
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-intel +12 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-lowlatency 6.8.0-100.100.1 USN-8052-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-nvidia-lowlatency 6.8.0-1046.49.1 USN-8028-7
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-nvidia-tegra 6.8.0-1020.20 —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-oem-6.14 6.14.0-1016.16 USN-7880-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-oracle 6.8.0-1043.44 USN-8028-5
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-raspi 6.8.0-1047.51 USN-8028-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-riscv-6.14 6.14.0-36.36.1~24.04.1 —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-xilinx 6.8.0-1023.24 USN-8052-2
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-aws-6.8 +1 6.8.0-1046.49~22.04.1 USN-8028-5
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-azure-6.8 6.8.0-1051.57~22.04.1 USN-8126-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-azure-fde-6.8 6.8.0-1046.53~22.04.1 —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-gcp-6.8 6.8.0-1047.50~22.04.2 USN-8031-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-hwe-6.8 +1 6.8.0-100.100~22.04.1 USN-8028-6
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-ibm-6.8 6.8.0-1044.44~22.04.1 USN-8028-8
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 6.8.0-100.100.1~22.04.1 USN-8028-6
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-oracle-6.8 6.8.0-1043.44~22.04.1 USN-8028-5
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-riscv +32 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-gke +28 No fix yet —
Show 5 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-gcp +14 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS linux-hwe-edge No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-raspi-realtime 6.8.0-2037.38 USN-8028-3
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-realtime 6.8.1-1041.42 USN-8028-3
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-realtime-6.14 6.14.0-1016.16~24.04.1 USN-7879-2
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 22.04 LTS linux-realtime-6.8 6.8.1-1041.42~22.04.1 USN-8028-2
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-aws-fips 6.8.0-1046.49+fips1 USN-8028-4
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-azure-fips 6.8.0-1046.52+fips1 USN-8074-2
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-fips 6.8.0-100.100+fips1 USN-8028-4
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-gcp-fips 6.8.0-1047.50+fips1 USN-8031-2
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
RHEL 10 rv +77 6.12.0-55.30.1.el10_0 RHSA-2025:15005
RHEL 9 rv +77 5.14.0-570.49.1.el9_6 RHSA-2025:16880
Show 2 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
RHEL 9.4 EUS bpftool 7.3.0-427.92.1.el9_4 RHSA-2025:17241
RHEL 9.4 EUS rv +64 5.14.0-427.92.1.el9_4 RHSA-2025:17241
RHEL 9.2 E4S bpftool 7.0.0-284.140.1.el9_2 RHSA-2025:17122
RHEL 9.2 E4S kernel-rt +14 5.14.0-284.140.1.rt14.425.el9_2 RHSA-2025:17123
RHEL 9.2 E4S perf +47 5.14.0-284.140.1.el9_2 RHSA-2025:17122

AlmaLinux

Errata ↗
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
AlmaLinux 10 kernel-doc +1 6.12.0-55.30.1.el10_0 ALSA-2025:15005
AlmaLinux 9 rv +75 5.14.0-570.49.1.el9_6 ALSA-2025:16880

Rocky Linux

Errata ↗
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Rocky Linux 10 kernel 6.12.0-55.30.1.el10_0 RLSA-2025:15005
Rocky Linux 9 kernel 5.14.0-570.49.1.el9_6 RLSA-2025:16880
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
SLES 15 SP7 kernel-64kb +6 6.4.0-150700.53.16.1 SUSE-SU-2025:03290-1
SLES 15 SP7 kernel-azure +1 6.4.0-150700.20.15.2 SUSE-SU-2025:03633-1
SLES 15 SP7 kernel-default-base 6.4.0-150700.53.16.1.150700.17.11.2 SUSE-SU-2025:03290-1
SLES 15 SP7 kernel-syms-azure 6.4.0-150700.20.15.1 SUSE-SU-2025:03633-1
SLES 15 SP6 kernel-64kb +6 6.4.0-150600.23.70.1 SUSE-SU-2025:03301-1
SLES 15 SP6 kernel-azure +2 6.4.0-150600.8.52.1 SUSE-SU-2025:03634-1
SLES 15 SP6 kernel-coco +3 6.4.0-15061.32.coco15sp6.1 SUSE-SU-2025:03602-1
SLES 15 SP6 kernel-default-base 6.4.0-150600.23.70.1.150600.12.30.2 SUSE-SU-2025:03301-1
Show 9 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
SLES for SAP 16.0 kernel-64kb +7 6.12.0-160000.6.1 SUSE-SU-2025:21139-1
SLES for SAP 16.0 kernel-default-base 6.12.0-160000.6.1.160000.2.4 SUSE-SU-2025:21139-1
SLES 16.0 kernel-64kb +7 6.12.0-160000.6.1 SUSE-SU-2025:21179-1, SUSE-SU-2025:21139-1
SLES 16.0 kernel-default-base 6.12.0-160000.6.1.160000.2.4 SUSE-SU-2025:21139-1
SLE Micro 6.2 kernel-default-base 6.12.0-160000.6.1.160000.2.4 SUSE-SU-2025:21074-1
SLE Micro 6.2 kernel-rt +5 6.12.0-160000.6.1 SUSE-SU-2026:20560-1, SUSE-SU-2025:21074-1
SLE Micro 6.1 kernel-default-base 6.4.0-34.1.21.11 SUSE-SU-2025:20669-1
SLE Micro 6.1 kernel-rt +1 6.4.0-36.1 SUSE-SU-2025:20756-1
SLE Micro 6.1 kernel-source +2 6.4.0-34.1 SUSE-SU-2025:20669-1
SLE Micro 6.0 kernel-default-base 6.4.0-34.1.21.11 SUSE-SU-2025:20653-1
SLE Micro 6.0 kernel-rt +1 6.4.0-36.1 SUSE-SU-2025:20739-1
SLE Micro 6.0 kernel-source +2 6.4.0-34.1 SUSE-SU-2025:20653-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP7 kernel-default 6.4.0-150700.53.16.1 SUSE-SU-2025:03290-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP7 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7-RT_Update_4 1-150700.1.3.2 SUSE-SU-2025:03382-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP7 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7_Update_4 1-150700.15.3.2 SUSE-SU-2025:03290-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-default 6.4.0-150600.23.70.1 SUSE-SU-2025:03301-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6-RT_Update_15 1-150600.1.3.1 SUSE-SU-2025:03272-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6_Update_15 1-150600.13.3.2 SUSE-SU-2025:03301-1
SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP7 kernel-rt +2 6.4.0-150700.7.16.1 SUSE-SU-2025:03382-1
SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-rt +3 6.4.0-150600.10.52.1 SUSE-SU-2025:03272-1
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
openSUSE Leap 16.0 kernel-default-base 6.12.0-160000.6.1.160000.2.4 openSUSE-SU-2025:20081-1
openSUSE Leap 16.0 kernel-rt +10 6.12.0-160000.6.1 openSUSE-SU-2025:20081-1
openSUSE Leap 15.6 dtb-aarch64 +10 6.4.0-150600.23.70.1 SUSE-SU-2025:03301-1
openSUSE Leap 15.6 kernel-azure +2 6.4.0-150600.8.52.1 SUSE-SU-2025:03634-1
openSUSE Leap 15.6 kernel-default-base 6.4.0-150600.23.70.1.150600.12.30.2 SUSE-SU-2025:03301-1
openSUSE Leap 15.6 kernel-rt +3 6.4.0-150600.10.52.1 SUSE-SU-2025:03272-1

Amazon Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Amazon Linux 2023 kernel-livepatch-6.12.40-63.114 +1 1:1.0-0.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2025-1145, ALAS2023-2025-1144
Amazon Linux 2023 perf +14 1:6.1.147-172.266.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2025-1144
Amazon Linux 2023 perf6.12 +14 1:6.12.40-63.114.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2025-1145

Azure Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Azure Linux 3 kernel 6.6.104.2-1 —

Oracle Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Oracle Linux 10 rv +28 6.12.0-55.30.1.0.1.el10_0 ELSA-2025-15005
Oracle Linux 9 kernel-uek +34 6.12.0-103.40.4.1.el10uek ELSA-2025-20551
Oracle Linux 9 rv +28 5.14.0-570.49.1.0.1.el9_6 ELSA-2025-16880

Advisories 50

References