Bug 2554848 (CVE-2026-98442)

Summary: CVE-2026-98442 kernel: net/sched: act_ct: fix helper UAF due to extensions realloc
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
Severity: high Docs Contact:
Priority: high    
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   
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version: Doc Type: ---
Doc Text:
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's traffic control connection tracking action (act_ct). An attacker capable of sending network traffic handled by the affected system can cause a Denial of Service (DoS) or kernel memory corruption through a use-after-free vulnerability. This issue occurs because connection tracking helpers record pointers to extension memory before all extensions are added, leaving invalid references when memory is subsequently reallocated.
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 2026-10-18 15:22:46 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net/sched: act_ct: fix helper UAF due to extensions realloc

While calling the helpers, a raw pointer to the extensions area is
wired into expectations list:

  -> nf_ct_helper()
   -> helper->help()
    -> nf_ct_expect_related_report()
     -> nf_ct_expect_insert()
      -> hlist_add_head_rcu(&exp->lnode, &master_help->expectations)

In case the connection is not confirmed yet, more extensions can be
added afterwards with *_ext_add() calls reallocating the extension
space and leaving the now invalid pointer in the expectations list
that is later accessed while removing the expectation.

Make sure that helpers are called at the end after all the other
extensions are already added.

Note that the helper rejection now leaves the mark and labels set,
but that's not different from how the NAT was handled before or how
the mark and the labels were handled on confirmation failure.  And
there are no atomicity guarantees provided by the API anyway.