Bug 2402297 (CVE-2023-53619)

Summary: CVE-2023-53619 kernel: netfilter: conntrack: Avoid nf_ct_helper_hash uses after free
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
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Version: unspecifiedKeywords: Security
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OS: Linux   
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2025-10-07 16:08:00 UTC 
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

netfilter: conntrack: Avoid nf_ct_helper_hash uses after free

If nf_conntrack_init_start() fails (for example due to a
register_nf_conntrack_bpf() failure), the nf_conntrack_helper_fini()
clean-up path frees the nf_ct_helper_hash map.

When built with NF_CONNTRACK=y, further netfilter modules (e.g:
netfilter_conntrack_ftp) can still be loaded and call
nf_conntrack_helpers_register(), independently of whether nf_conntrack
initialized correctly. This accesses the nf_ct_helper_hash dangling
pointer and causes a uaf, possibly leading to random memory corruption.

This patch guards nf_conntrack_helper_register() from accessing a freed
or uninitialized nf_ct_helper_hash pointer and fixes possible
uses-after-free when loading a conntrack module.
Comment 1 Jon Moroney 2025-10-07 19:19:20 UTC 
Upstream advisory:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2025100709-CVE-2023-53619-03f0@gregkh/T