Bug 2457826 (CVE-2026-31424)

Summary:	CVE-2026-31424 kernel: netfilter: x_tables: restrict xt_check_match/xt_check_target extensions for NFPROTO_ARP
Product:	[Other] Security Response	Reporter:	OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component:	vulnerability	Assignee:	Product Security <prodsec-ir-bot>
Status:	NEW ---	QA Contact:
Severity:	medium	Docs Contact:
Priority:	medium
Version:	unspecified	CC:	rhel-process-autobot, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone:	---	Keywords:	Security
Target Release:	---
Hardware:	All
OS:	Linux
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version:		Doc Type:	---
Doc Text:	A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's netfilter subsystem, specifically within the x_tables and arptables components. This vulnerability arises when xt_match and xt_target extensions, registered for unspecified protocol families, are incorrectly processed by the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) subsystem. An attacker could exploit this by crafting network packets that trigger a mismatch in hook validation, leading to a null pointer dereference and ultimately a kernel panic, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS) for the affected system.	Story Points:	---
Clone Of:		Environment:
Last Closed:		Type:	---
Regression:	---	Mount Type:	---
Documentation:	---	CRM:
Verified Versions:		Category:	---
oVirt Team:	---	RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team:	---	Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:

Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-04-13 14:01:38 UTC

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

netfilter: x_tables: restrict xt_check_match/xt_check_target extensions for NFPROTO_ARP

Weiming Shi says:

xt_match and xt_target structs registered with NFPROTO_UNSPEC can be
loaded by any protocol family through nft_compat. When such a
match/target sets .hooks to restrict which hooks it may run on, the
bitmask uses NF_INET_* constants. This is only correct for families
whose hook layout matches NF_INET_*: IPv4, IPv6, INET, and bridge
all share the same five hooks (PRE_ROUTING ... POST_ROUTING).

ARP only has three hooks (IN=0, OUT=1, FORWARD=2) with different
semantics. Because NF_ARP_OUT == 1 == NF_INET_LOCAL_IN, the .hooks
validation silently passes for the wrong reasons, allowing matches to
run on ARP chains where the hook assumptions (e.g. state->in being
set on input hooks) do not hold. This leads to NULL pointer
dereferences; xt_devgroup is one concrete example:

 Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000044: 0000 [#1] SMP KASAN NOPTI
 KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000220-0x0000000000000227]
 RIP: 0010:devgroup_mt+0xff/0x350
 Call Trace:
  <TASK>
  nft_match_eval (net/netfilter/nft_compat.c:407)
  nft_do_chain (net/netfilter/nf_tables_core.c:285)
  nft_do_chain_arp (net/netfilter/nft_chain_filter.c:61)
  nf_hook_slow (net/netfilter/core.c:623)
  arp_xmit (net/ipv4/arp.c:666)
  </TASK>
 Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception in interrupt

Fix it by restricting arptables to NFPROTO_ARP extensions only.
Note that arptables-legacy only supports:

- arpt_CLASSIFY
- arpt_mangle
- arpt_MARK

that provide explicit NFPROTO_ARP match/target declarations.

Comment 1 Keith Grant 2026-04-13 17:08:30 UTC

Upstream advisory:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2026041356-CVE-2026-31424-704f@gregkh/T