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TI-2026-75569 Aliases CVE-2026-98441GHSA-vvgr-4jx9-2c4x

Use-after-free in Linux kernel act_ct conntrack handling

Priority LOW 33Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Local
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
—
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
High · High · High
Fix status
Partial Red Hat: 4 without a fix

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.

Summary

The Linux kernel act_ct action in net/sched is affected from 6.2 until the fixed releases. When a packet with an unconfirmed conntrack entry is cloned, both clones can modify the shared entry, which leaves a pointer in the expectation list broken and causes a use-after-free on later destruction. A local user with low privileges can exploit this to affect confidentiality, integrity and availability.

Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-30

Description from the CNA

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/sched: act_ct: avoid modifying shared unconfirmed ct entry In a case where skb with an unconfirmed ct entry gets cloned, we may end up processing both again but with different sets of extensions. The series of events: 1. The first clone wants to commit and runs the helpers wiring up the extension pointer into the expectation list. 2. Then it looses the confirmation keeping the entry unconfirmed. 3. Second clone now wants to commit labels or run NAT and adds the new extension for that breaking the pointer in the expectation list causing UAF on the destruction path later. While this is possible to trigger, there should be no practical network pipeline where we need to process both clones without modifications in the same zone. So, let's just reset the entry in case for some reason we got an skb with a shared one. This doesn't affect any known use cases, but avoids any potential problems with sharing and modification of the unconfirmed ct entry. Unlike openvswitch module, act_ct allows for NAT without commit. Changing that would be a uAPI break. So, act_ct needs to reset on NAT regardless of the commit flag to avoid reallocation of the extension space. This, however, doesn't really change the picture for sensible networking cases as there should be no need to run the same packet twice (before and after the clone) through conntrack without packet header or zone changes and without commit. The fixes tag points to the introduction of helpers, since that's the main UAF trigger for the sharing.

Why it matters now

EPSS 0.00133 2nd percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial Linux (Linux): 6.6.160, 6.12.112, 6.18.55 +2Red Hat: 4 without a fix

SSVC decision points

Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
LinuxLinux6.2 and later6.6.160, 6.12.112, 6.18.55, 7.2.9, 7.3Patch availableCNA
  • Linux VendorLinux Affected 6.2 and later Fixed in 6.6.160, 6.12.112, 6.18.55, 7.2.9, 7.3 Patch available CNA

CPE names Threatist (inferred) · 1

Inferred from how NVD named this product before; not given by a source.

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*——Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions — — ·Linux

Remediation

Update the Linux kernel to 6.6.160, 6.12.112, 6.18.55, 7.2.9 or 7.3, depending on the stable branch in use. Red Hat reports no fix available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 and Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5.

Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-30

  • Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.6.160, 6.12.112, 6.18.55, 7.2.9, 7.3

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Not affected: 4 products
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-18 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-98441
  2. 2026-10-18 Alias added: GHSA-vvgr-4jx9-2c4x
  3. 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
  4. 2026-10-20 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
  5. 2026-10-20 CVSS score added · Red Hat
  6. 2026-10-21 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/Linux@c812bb4aea13d385d048b5b24756aee2edf6f99e · CNA
  7. 2026-10-21 1 new reference · CNA
  8. 2026-10-24 CVSS score added · CNA
  9. 2026-10-30 Affected versions changed · Red Hat

References

  • 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-2021-02452 Incorrect authorization in Ubuntu linux kernel 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
See all 21741 →

Sources