Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
netfilter: nf_conntrack_expect: use conntrack GC to reap expectations
This patch replaces the timer API by GC worker approach for
expectations, as it already happened in many other subsystems.
Use the existing conntrack GC worker to iterate over the local list of
expectations in the master conntrack to reap expired expectations.
Check IPS_HELPER_BIT to run GC for expectations, set it on for nft_ct
expectation which nevers sets it. Hold the expectation spinlock while
iterating over the master conntrack expectation list to synchronize with
nf_ct_remove_expectations(). This also performs runtime packet path
garbage collection through the expectation insertion and lookup
functions while walking over one of the chains of the global expectation
hashtables. Unconfirmed conntrack entries are skipped since ct->ext can
be reallocated and dying are skipped since those will be gone soon.
Set on IPS_HELPER_BIT if the helper ct extension is added, then the new
GC worker does not need to bump the ct refcount to check if the ct->ext
helper is available.
This removes the extra bump on the refcount for expectation timers, this
allows to remove several nf_ct_expect_put() calls after the unlink,
after this update only refcount remains at 1 while on the expectation
hashes.
This patch implicitly addresses a race with the existing timer API
allowing an expectation to access a stale exp->master pointer which has
been already released when expectation removal loses races with an
expiring timer, ie. timer_del() reporting false.
Add a new NF_CT_EXPECT_DEAD flag to reap this expectation via GC. This
is needed by nf_conntrack_unexpect_related() which is called in error
paths to invalidate newly created expectations that has been added into
the hashes. These expectactions cannot be inmediately released as GC or
nf_ct_remove_expectations() could race to make it. On expectation
insert, the runtime GC reaps stale expectations before checking the
expectation limit set by policy.
Set current timestamp in nf_ct_expect_alloc(), then add the expectation
policy timeout (or custom timeout specified added on top of this) to
specify the expectation lifetime.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 6.1.176 – < 6.1.191, 6.6.143 – < 6.6.160, 6.12.94 – < 6.12.114, 6.18.24 – < 6.18.61, 6.19.14 – < 6.20, 7.0 | 6.1.191 |
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.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | linux | 7.1.5-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | linux | 6.12.115-2 | — |
| Debian 12 | linux | No fix yet | — |
| Debian 12 | linux-6.12 | 6.12.115-2~deb12u1 | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu Nvidia-BlueField 24.04 LTS | linux-bluefield | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux | 7.0.0-38.38 | USN-8887-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-aws +1 | 7.0.0-1014.14 | USN-8887-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-azure | 7.0.0-1017.17 | USN-8888-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-azure-fde | 7.0.0-1016.16 | USN-8888-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-gke | 7.0.0-1008.9 | USN-8887-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-ibm +1 | 7.0.0-1015.15 | USN-8889-1, USN-8887-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-nvidia | 7.0.0-1025.26 | USN-9043-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-nvidia-bos | 7.0.0-2022.23 | USN-9003-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-oracle | 7.0.0-1013.13 | USN-8887-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-raspi | 7.0.0-1023.23 | USN-9021-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-riscv +1 | 7.0.0-38.38.1 | USN-8887-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux +27 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-aws-7.0 +1 | 7.0.0-1014.14~24.04.1 | USN-8887-3, USN-8887-2 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-azure-7.0 | 7.0.0-1017.17~24.04.1 | USN-8888-2 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-azure-fde-7.0 | 7.0.0-1016.16~24.04.1 | USN-8888-2 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-hwe-7.0 | 7.0.0-38.38~24.04.4 | USN-8887-3 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-nvidia-7.0 | 7.0.0-1024.25~24.04.1 | USN-9003-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-nvidia-tegra | 6.8.0-1038.42 | USN-9002-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-oracle-7.0 | 7.0.0-1013.13~24.04.1 | USN-8887-3 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-riscv-7.0 | 7.0.0-38.38.1~24.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-riscv +32 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | linux-gke +28 | No fix yet | — |
Show 3 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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-realtime-6.14 +1 | No fix yet | — |
Amazon Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Linux 2023 | kernel-livepatch-6.12.114-139.210 | 1:1.0-0.amzn2023 | ALAS2023-2026-3402 |
| Amazon Linux 2023 | perf6.12 +11 | 1:6.12.114-139.210.amzn2023 | ALAS2023-2026-3402 |
Azure Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azure Linux 3 | kernel | No fix yet | — |
Advisories 12
- USN-9021-1 linux-raspi vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 12, 2026
- WID-SEC-2026-3075 Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Nov 12, 2026
- USN-9043-1 linux-nvidia vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 12, 2026
- USN-8887-1 linux, linux-aws, linux-gcp, linux-gke, linux-ibm, linux-oracle, linux-realtime vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 12, 2026
- USN-9003-1 linux-nvidia-7.0, linux-nvidia-bos vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 12, 2026
- USN-8887-3 linux-gcp-7.0, linux-hwe-7.0, linux-oracle-7.0 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 12, 2026
- USN-8888-2 linux-azure-7.0, linux-azure-fde-7.0 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 12, 2026
- USN-8888-1 linux-azure, linux-azure-fde vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 12, 2026
- USN-9002-1 linux-nvidia-tegra vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 12, 2026
- USN-8887-2 linux-aws-7.0 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 12, 2026
- USN-8889-1 linux-oem-7.0 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 12, 2026
- ALAS2023-2026-3402 Important: kernel6.12 security update (Amazon Linux 2023) Amazon Linux Security Center (ALAS) · Nov 11, 2026
References
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/61ca26e1a45965590f7e477c4d6f711162642e1c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3d7b808ec35291ee75dcdb2b6fe5f587bfe9b1df
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/02f7809a19fc88cfd9bc113a4bfe7add6305db39
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bc6b1da681abe631ed21b7fdced48546189d64a4
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7ec786f4230c2a9b2eaf97a2d45368933b49d2b2
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b8b09dc2bf35a00d4e0556b5d6308c7b917ebda2