CVE-2026-43116
Description
A flaw was found in the netfilter: ctnetlink component of the Linux kernel. This vulnerability occurs due to insufficient locking when accessing the master conntrack object, allowing it to become invalid while still being referenced. A local attacker could potentially exploit this race condition, leading to a system crash and a denial of service.
Statement
ctnetlink expectation handling could keep a reference to the expectation object while the associated master conntrack object was freed concurrently. This leaves exp master as a stale pointer and can let get, delete, or event reporting paths access master conntrack state after it has gone away. For the CVSS the PR:L is used in the paranoid score because some deployments delegate CAP_NET_ADMIN or conntrack management inside network namespaces or containers to less privileged local users. The issue is not directly network reachable as a remote packet only attack, although traffic and conntrack activity can help create the concurrent state needed for the race. In the paranoid case, the stale master conntrack pointer is treated as a use after free candidate with possible confidentiality and integrity impact.
Mitigation
Mitigation for this issue is to skip loading the affected module "netfilter" onto the system till we have a fix available, this can be done by a blacklist mechanism, this will ensure the driver is not loaded at the boot time.
How do I blacklist a kernel module to prevent it from loading automatically?
https://access.redhat.com/solutions/41278
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 7 | N/A | 7.8 |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | Local |
| Attack Complexity | High | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | Low | N/A | Low |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | High | N/A | High |
| Integrity Impact | High | N/A | High |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Integrity
Technical Impact: Modify Memory
The use of previously freed memory may corrupt valid data, if the memory area in question has been allocated and used properly elsewhere.
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
If chunk consolidation occurs after the use of previously freed data, the process may crash when invalid data is used as chunk information.
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Memory
Read operations on freed memory can sometimes leak sensitive information instead of causing a crash
Integrity,Confidentiality,Availability
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
If malicious data is entered before chunk consolidation can take place, it may be possible to take advantage of a write-what-where primitive to execute arbitrary code. If the newly allocated data happens to hold a class, in C++ for example, various function pointers may be scattered within the heap data. If one of these function pointers is overwritten with an address to valid shellcode, execution of arbitrary code can be achieved.
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