netfilter: ctnetlink: remove refcounting in expectation dumpers
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 5 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: ctnetlink: remove refcounting in expectation dumpers Same pattern as previous patch: do not keep the expectation object alive via refcount, only store a cookie value and then use that as the skip hint for dump resumption. AFAICS this has the same issue as the one resolved in the conntrack dumper, when we do if (!refcount_inc_not_zero(&exp->use)) to increment the refcount, there is a chance that exp == last, which causes a double-increment of the refcount and subsequent memory leak.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 2.6.23 and later | 5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.167, 6.6.130, 6.12.78, 6.16.2, 6.17 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 2.6.23 and later Fixed in 5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.167, 6.6.130, 6.12.78, 6.16.2, 6.17 Patch available CNA
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.167, 6.6.130, 6.12.78, 6.16.2, 6.17
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2025-39764
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-rh5v-2xrc-gj9x
- 2026-11-05 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Patch 2
Other 5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b05500444b8eb97644efdd180839a04a706be97c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bada48ad5b0590e318d0f79636ff62a2ef9f4955
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/64b7684042246e3238464c66894e30ba30c7e851
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9e5021a906532ca16e2aac69c0607711e1c70b1f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/078d33c95bf534d37aa04269d1ae6158e20082d5
More Linux Kernel vulnerabilities
- TI-2025-26358 tls: fix handling of zero-length records on the rx_list KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-38352 netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2021-05514 Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.3
Sources
- CVE-2025-39764 · CVE Program
- CVE-2025-39764 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-rh5v-2xrc-gj9x · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2025-39764 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences