CVE-2026-23458

Analyzed Analyzed - Analysis Complete

Use-After-Free in Linux Kernel netfilter ctnetlink Dump Causes Crash

Publication date: 2026-04-03

Last updated on: 2026-05-26

Assigner: kernel.org

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: ctnetlink: fix use-after-free in ctnetlink_dump_exp_ct() ctnetlink_dump_exp_ct() stores a conntrack pointer in cb->data for the netlink dump callback ctnetlink_exp_ct_dump_table(), but drops the conntrack reference immediately after netlink_dump_start(). When the dump spans multiple rounds, the second recvmsg() triggers the dump callback which dereferences the now-freed conntrack via nfct_help(ct), leading to a use-after-free on ct->ext. The bug is that the netlink_dump_control has no .start or .done callbacks to manage the conntrack reference across dump rounds. Other dump functions in the same file (e.g. ctnetlink_get_conntrack) properly use .start/.done callbacks for this purpose. Fix this by adding .start and .done callbacks that hold and release the conntrack reference for the duration of the dump, and move the nfct_help() call after the cb->args[0] early-return check in the dump callback to avoid dereferencing ct->ext unnecessarily. BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in ctnetlink_exp_ct_dump_table+0x4f/0x2e0 Read of size 8 at addr ffff88810597ebf0 by task ctnetlink_poc/133 CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 133 Comm: ctnetlink_poc Not tainted 7.0.0-rc2+ #3 PREEMPTLAZY Call Trace: <TASK> ctnetlink_exp_ct_dump_table+0x4f/0x2e0 netlink_dump+0x333/0x880 netlink_recvmsg+0x3e2/0x4b0 ? aa_sk_perm+0x184/0x450 sock_recvmsg+0xde/0xf0 Allocated by task 133: kmem_cache_alloc_noprof+0x134/0x440 __nf_conntrack_alloc+0xa8/0x2b0 ctnetlink_create_conntrack+0xa1/0x900 ctnetlink_new_conntrack+0x3cf/0x7d0 nfnetlink_rcv_msg+0x48e/0x510 netlink_rcv_skb+0xc9/0x1f0 nfnetlink_rcv+0xdb/0x220 netlink_unicast+0x3ec/0x590 netlink_sendmsg+0x397/0x690 __sys_sendmsg+0xf4/0x180 Freed by task 0: slab_free_after_rcu_debug+0xad/0x1e0 rcu_core+0x5c3/0x9c0

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Meta Information

Published

2026-04-03

Last Modified

2026-05-26

Generated

2026-07-06

AI Q&A

2026-04-03

EPSS Evaluated

2026-07-05

NVD

CVE-2026-23458

EUVD

EUVD-2026-18716

Affected Vendors & Products

Vendor	Product	Version / Range
linux	linux_kernel	7.0
linux	linux_kernel	7.0
linux	linux_kernel	7.0
linux	linux_kernel	7.0
linux	linux_kernel	From 6.2 (inc) to 6.6.130 (exc)
linux	linux_kernel	From 5.11 (inc) to 5.15.203 (exc)
linux	linux_kernel	From 5.16 (inc) to 6.1.167 (exc)
linux	linux_kernel	From 6.7 (inc) to 6.12.78 (exc)
linux	linux_kernel	From 6.13 (inc) to 6.18.20 (exc)
linux	linux_kernel	From 6.19 (inc) to 6.19.10 (exc)
linux	linux_kernel	From 3.10 (inc) to 5.10.253 (exc)

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE

KEV

CWE ID	Description
CWE-416	The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.

Attack-Flow Graph

Executive Summary

This vulnerability is a use-after-free bug in the Linux kernel's netfilter component, specifically in the ctnetlink module. The function ctnetlink_dump_exp_ct() improperly manages a connection tracking pointer by storing it for a netlink dump callback but releasing its reference too early. When the dump operation spans multiple rounds, the callback attempts to access the now-freed connection tracking data, leading to a use-after-free condition.

The root cause is that the netlink_dump_control structure lacks proper start and done callbacks to manage the lifetime of the connection tracking reference across multiple dump rounds. Other similar functions correctly use these callbacks to hold and release references. The fix involves adding these callbacks and adjusting the code to avoid dereferencing freed memory.

Impact Analysis

This use-after-free vulnerability can lead to memory corruption in the Linux kernel, which may cause system instability, crashes, or potentially allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges. Exploiting this flaw could compromise the security and reliability of systems running vulnerable Linux kernel versions.

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