CVE-2026-90237

netfilter: nft_ct: move custom expectation support to helper

HIGH
7.8
CVSS Score
Published: September 17, 2026 at 04:07 PM UTC
Updated: October 19, 2026 at 09:19 AM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

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Severity
HIGH7.8
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.2%

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nft_ct: move custom expectation support to helper Originally, the ct expectation support called nf_ct_helper_ext_add() for confirmed conntracks, which is invalid, triggering a splat. This was fixed by commit 1710eb913bdc ("netfilter: nft_ct: skip expectations for confirmed conntrack") which restricted it to unconfirmed conntracks. However, early insertion of expectations into the expectations list when the conntrack is unconfirmed leads to stale entries pointing to the wrong hlist_head through .pprev due to ct extension reallocation. Commit 7c9664351980 ("netfilter: move nat hlist_head to nf_conn") moved the nat hlist_head to nf_conn for this reason: 1. ... 2. When reallocation of extension area occurs we need to fixup the bysource hash head via hlist_replace_rcu. I'd rather not increase the size of the struct nf_conn for this feature has very limited scope: only one expectation can be created at a time given expect_clash() will make nf_ct_expect_related() reports EBUSY. For this reason, relax nf_ct_expect_related() not to drop packets in case expectation creation fails, therefore, expectation creation becomes best effort. To address this issue, add an internal ct helper and attach it to the conntrack entry to streamline the custom ct expectation support with existing ct helpers. Expose a new nf_conntrack_helper_release() function to release the internal helper that is allocated and attached to the conntrack entry to create the custom expectations. The nft_ct module removal always waits for rcu grace period, then the NULL helper callback is observed after this. This patch also restricts the creation of expectations to different helpers other than this custom helper that is created for this type of expectations.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

5.3857b46027d6f91150797295752581b7155b9d0e1
Vendor states this is fixed in 3679da4ad8be84cddaf40bc307fef1fe13e051ff (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in af3fe52fd108fd38235e4813df62442ed0f1d8ff (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.3 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.2.6 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.3 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.3-rc1 (unaffected)

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet, and no fixed version or vendor advisory is recorded against it.

CVSS

7.8HIGHLinux
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusRECEIVED

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