Bug 2541014 (CVE-2026-97609)

Summary: CVE-2026-97609 kernel: netfilter: cttimeout: prevent UAF during module unload
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security <prodsec-ir-bot>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
Severity: medium Docs Contact:
Priority: medium    
Version: unspecifiedCC: akhatavk, aos-team-art-private, asdas, dpaolell, jdelft, jupierce, lgarciaa, mbiarnes, ppalepu, ppostler, prdhamdh, rhel-process-autobot, sghai, sidsharm, suppawar, vlaad, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
Target Release: ---   
Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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Fixed In Version: Doc Type: ---
Doc Text:
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's netfilter subsystem. An improper cleanup sequence during the unloading of the connection tracking timeout module creates a race condition with active timeout operations. A local user could exploit this flaw to trigger a use-after-free condition on released memory, leading to a Denial of Service (DoS) through a system crash or potentially privilege escalation.
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oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team: --- Target Upstream Version:
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-09-25 10:39:09 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

netfilter: cttimeout: prevent UAF during module unload

nf_ct_set_timeout() protects the timeout hook dereference and policy lookup
with rcu_read_lock(). cttimeout_exit(), however, unregisters the per-net
operations before it clears the hook.

This allows the following interleaving:

  CPU 0                              CPU 1
  cttimeout_exit()                   nf_ct_set_timeout()
    unregister_pernet_subsys()         rcu_read_lock()
      kfree(pernet)                     h = nf_ct_timeout_hook
                                        h->timeout_find_get()
                                          nfct_timeout_pernet()

The hook still points to ctnl_timeout_find_get() when CPU 1 looks up the
already freed per-net timeout list. KASAN reported:

  BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in ctnl_timeout_find_get
  Read of size 8 by task poc/90
  Call Trace:
   ctnl_timeout_find_get+0x271/0x2a0 [nfnetlink_cttimeout]
   nf_ct_set_timeout+0x7b/0x3c0
   xt_ct_tg_check+0x724/0xb20
   xt_check_target+0x234/0xa90
   do_ipt_set_ctl+0x570/0x1270
  Allocated by task 89:
   __kmalloc_noprof+0x16e/0x460
   ops_init+0x6d/0x420
   register_pernet_operations+0x2f6/0x670
  Freed by task 91:
   kfree+0x131/0x390
   ops_undo_list+0x3d4/0x730
   unregister_pernet_operations+0x232/0x490
   unregister_pernet_subsys+0x1c/0x30
   cttimeout_exit+0x52/0x970 [nfnetlink_cttimeout]

Clear the hook and wait for existing readers before unregistering the
per-net operations. This blocks new policy lookups and ensures readers that
observed the hook finish before the per-net storage is freed.