Bug 2559571 (CVE-2026-98873)

Summary:	CVE-2026-98873 kernel: netfilter: nf_conntrack_expect: zero at allocation time
Product:	[Other] Security Response	Reporter:	OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component:	vulnerability	Assignee:	Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status:	NEW ---	QA Contact:
Severity:	low	Docs Contact:
Priority:	low
Version:	unspecified	CC:	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 Netfilter connection tracking subsystem. Memory allocated for tracking expected network connections was not properly cleared upon allocation. A local user could exploit this vulnerability by querying connection tracking records via the Netlink interface, leading to an information disclosure of uninitialized kernel memory.	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 2026-10-23 12:04:01 UTC

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

netfilter: nf_conntrack_expect: zero at allocation time

There are occasional LLM hints wrt. leaking uninitialized data to
userspace via ctnetlink.  Just zero at allocation time,
expectations are not frequently used these days.

Intentionally keeps _init as-is because we could theoretically
support re-init, so add the missing exp->dir there.