netfilter: nf_conntrack_expect: use conntrack GC to reap expectations
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 5 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
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.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- Yes
- Technical impact
- Total
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 | 6.1.176 to before 6.1.191; 6.6.143 to before 6.6.160; 6.12.94 to before 6.12.114; 6.18.24 to before 6.18.61; 6.19.14 to before 6.20 | 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.114, 6.18.61, 6.20 | Patch available | CNA |
| Linux | Linux | 7.0 and later | 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.114, 6.18.61, 7.1.5, 7.2 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 6.1.176 to before 6.1.191; 6.6.143 to before 6.6.160; 6.12.94 to before 6.12.114; 6.18.24 to before 6.18.61; 6.19.14 to before 6.20 Fixed in 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.114, 6.18.61, 6.20 Patch available CNA
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 7.0 and later Fixed in 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.114, 6.18.61, 7.1.5, 7.2 Patch available CNA
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.114, 6.18.61, 6.20
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.114, 6.18.61, 7.1.5, 7.2
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 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet |
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-80668
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-fpgw-998r-pg47
- 2026-10-18 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-21 Fix available: Linux/Linux@02f7809a19fc88cfd9bc113a4bfe7add6305db39, Linux/Linux@3d7b808ec35291ee75dcdb2b6fe5f587bfe9b1df, Linux/[email protected] +1 · CNA
- 2026-10-21 2 new references · CNA
- 2026-10-23 EPSS moved to the 50th–90th percentile
- 2026-10-30 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/Linux@61ca26e1a45965590f7e477c4d6f711162642e1c · CNA
- 2026-10-30 1 new reference · CNA
- 2026-11-04 EPSS moved to the below the 50th percentile
- 2026-11-06 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/Linux@bc6b1da681abe631ed21b7fdced48546189d64a4 · CNA
- 2026-11-06 1 new reference · CNA
References
Other 6
- 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
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Sources
- CVE-2026-80668 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-80668 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-fpgw-998r-pg47 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-80668 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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