CVE-2026-23458
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: ctnetlink: fix use-after-free in ctnetlink_dump_exp_ct() ctnetlink_dump_exp_ct() stores a conntrack pointer in cb->data for the netlink dump callback ctnetlink_exp_ct_dump_table(), but drops the conntrack reference immediately after netlink_dump_start(). When the dump spans multiple rounds, the second recvmsg() triggers the dump callback which dereferences the now-freed conntrack via nfct_help(ct), leading to a use-after-free on ct->ext. The bug is that the netlink_dump_control has no .start or .done callbacks to manage the conntrack reference across dump rounds. Other dump functions in the same file (e.g. ctnetlink_get_conntrack) properly use .start/.done callbacks for this purpose. Fix this by adding .start and .done callbacks that hold and release the conntrack reference for the duration of the dump, and move the nfct_help() call after the cb->args[0] early-return check in the dump callback to avoid dereferencing ct->ext unnecessarily. BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in ctnetlink_exp_ct_dump_table+0x4f/0x2e0 Read of size 8 at addr ffff88810597ebf0 by task ctnetlink_poc/133 CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 133 Comm: ctnetlink_poc Not tainted 7.0.0-rc2+ #3 PREEMPTLAZY Call Trace: <TASK> ctnetlink_exp_ct_dump_table+0x4f/0x2e0 netlink_dump+0x333/0x880 netlink_recvmsg+0x3e2/0x4b0 ? aa_sk_perm+0x184/0x450 sock_recvmsg+0xde/0xf0 Allocated by task 133: kmem_cache_alloc_noprof+0x134/0x440 __nf_conntrack_alloc+0xa8/0x2b0 ctnetlink_create_conntrack+0xa1/0x900 ctnetlink_new_conntrack+0x3cf/0x7d0 nfnetlink_rcv_msg+0x48e/0x510 netlink_rcv_skb+0xc9/0x1f0 nfnetlink_rcv+0xdb/0x220 netlink_unicast+0x3ec/0x590 netlink_sendmsg+0x397/0x690 __sys_sendmsg+0xf4/0x180 Freed by task 0: slab_free_after_rcu_debug+0xad/0x1e0 rcu_core+0x5c3/0x9c0
Predictions
Heuristic predictions, AS-IS, for prioritization only.
Mitigations
No mitigations published for this CVE yet.
The vendor-content worker queues fetches as references arrive (check back in a few minutes). Or — if you've already worked around this in production — publish your fix to the community-verified tier.
✚ Propose a mitigation on Community → Mitigations published via the community go through AI scoring + 2 human reviewers + 7-day silent objection window before landing here withsource_tier=community-verified.
OS impact
| OS | Version | Status | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| sles | affected | | |
| debian | bookworm | fixed | 6.1.170-1 |
| debian | bullseye | fixed | 6.1.170-1~deb11u1 |
| debian | forky | fixed | 6.19.10-1 |
| debian | sid | fixed | 6.19.10-1 |
| debian | trixie | fixed | 6.12.85-1 |
| linux-kernel | affected | 5.10.253 | |
| linux-kernel | 7.0 | affected | |
Application impact
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| gcp | | |
References
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/04c8907ce4e3d3e26c5e1a3e47aa5d17082cbb56
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5cb81eeda909dbb2def209dd10636b51549a3f8a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9821b47f669eb82791fa0b1a6ebaf9aa219bea72
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bdf2724eefd4455a66863abb025bab8d3aa98c57
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cd541f15b60e2257441398cf495d978f816d09f8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d8cd0efbccc5cfb0a80da744a7da76e1333ab925
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f025171feef2ac65663d7986f1d5ff0c28d6b2a9
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f04cc86d59906513d2d62183b882966fc0ae0390
- https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-23458.html
- https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-23458
CWEs
CWE-416
Community-verified mitigations for this CVE will appear above when contributors publish them.
Verify integrity in audit chain (admin only). AS-IS.