CVE-2026-43026 PUBLISHED

netfilter: ctnetlink: zero expect NAT fields when CTA_EXPECT_NAT absent

Assigner: Linux
Reserved: 01.05.2026 Published: 01.05.2026 Updated: 01.05.2026

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

netfilter: ctnetlink: zero expect NAT fields when CTA_EXPECT_NAT absent

ctnetlink_alloc_expect() allocates expectations from a non-zeroing slab cache via nf_ct_expect_alloc(). When CTA_EXPECT_NAT is not present in the netlink message, saved_addr and saved_proto are never initialized. Stale data from a previous slab occupant can then be dumped to userspace by ctnetlink_exp_dump_expect(), which checks these fields to decide whether to emit CTA_EXPECT_NAT.

The safe sibling nf_ct_expect_init(), used by the packet path, explicitly zeroes these fields.

Zero saved_addr, saved_proto and dir in the else branch, guarded by IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_NF_NAT) since these fields only exist when NAT is enabled.

Confirmed by priming the expect slab with NAT-bearing expectations, freeing them, creating a new expectation without CTA_EXPECT_NAT, and observing that the ctnetlink dump emits a spurious CTA_EXPECT_NAT containing stale data from the prior allocation.

Product Status

Vendor Linux
Product Linux
Versions Default: unaffected
  • affected from 076a0ca02644657b13e4af363f487ced2942e9cb to a5a89db6981a1ddf2314bf50cb49db5a3146185f (excl.)
  • affected from 076a0ca02644657b13e4af363f487ced2942e9cb to 1c2ebdeff8d088a2e47ae25d7b38447249adace2 (excl.)
  • affected from 076a0ca02644657b13e4af363f487ced2942e9cb to a64b7bf84b4d5ea54218c5d374ec87fff9000f43 (excl.)
  • affected from 076a0ca02644657b13e4af363f487ced2942e9cb to 2898080c054ea4d6ddfaaf21bbedbc229a9a8376 (excl.)
  • affected from 076a0ca02644657b13e4af363f487ced2942e9cb to fd002ff2ea030cbfb0188a11b3c60ce7f84485f4 (excl.)
  • affected from 076a0ca02644657b13e4af363f487ced2942e9cb to 929f7a9a7aad9404a5867216c3f8738232355b38 (excl.)
  • affected from 076a0ca02644657b13e4af363f487ced2942e9cb to bff0f4f06f12d6d9bc565a3e1378abd4f6f5ce36 (excl.)
  • affected from 076a0ca02644657b13e4af363f487ced2942e9cb to 35177c6877134a21315f37d57a5577846225623e (excl.)
Vendor Linux
Product Linux
Versions Default: affected
  • Version 3.4 is affected
  • unaffected from 0 to 3.4 (excl.)
  • unaffected from 5.10.253 to 5.10.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 5.15.203 to 5.15.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 6.1.168 to 6.1.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 6.6.134 to 6.6.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 6.12.81 to 6.12.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 6.18.22 to 6.18.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 6.19.12 to 6.19.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 7.0 to * (incl.)

References