Race condition in Linux kernel netfilter flowtable offload handling
Key facts
- Attack vector
- —
- Privileges required
- —
- User interaction
- —
- Attack complexity
- —
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- —
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 5 without a fix
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
The Linux kernel from 5.7 contains a race condition in the netfilter flowtable code. The flowtable garbage collection worker can remove a flow while hardware offload work for that flow is still pending, so the collector and the hardware offload handler can race.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
Description from the CNA
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: flowtable: generalize pending status bit Rename NF_FLOW_HW_PENDING to NF_FLOW_PENDING and use it to inhibit the flowtable GC worker until pending hw offload work has been completed. Apparently, nf_flow_offload_stats() can schedule work to retrieve stats while the flow is being removed by GC. And this bit can also be used in a follow up patch to disable GC until the flow has been fully added in both directions. Revert the reordering done in commit d644b23afe1e ("netfilter: flowtable: publish HW_DEAD after worker is done") to prevent a race between GC and hw offload handler.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
Remediation
The fixed Linux kernel versions are 6.6.160, 6.12.113, 6.18.56, 7.2.10 and 7.3. Red Hat lists Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, 9 and 10 and Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 and 5 as affected with no fix plan available.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.6.160, 6.12.113, 6.18.56, 7.2.10, 7.3
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 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 2 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Timeline
- 2026-10-18 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-98792
- 2026-10-18 Alias added: GHSA-j4c9-hvw2-vg7q
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-21 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/Linux@f7e292f3c8c853f27a1af7eaf3428a0e76fe5fcc · CNA
- 2026-10-21 1 new reference · CNA
- 2026-10-24 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-24 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-11-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
Other 5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f7e292f3c8c853f27a1af7eaf3428a0e76fe5fcc
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4d52b72f3aa68ad0536444e36530bda75070194c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4033e1a9262c57dfbfc594a591a50fcba63c531a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a2cac45848d1cf31ed190db30f90ba8211e9a8ca
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7c549fb7eecd01fdba7c0d12c01da876ef8a3214
More Linux 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-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
Sources
- CVE-2026-98792 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-98792 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-j4c9-hvw2-vg7q · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-98792 · 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