netfilter: nf_conntrack_expect: use conntrack GC to reap expectations
CVE-2026-80668 · published 28 Aug 2026
How serious is it
- Severity: critical, CVSS score 9.8 out of 10.
- No exploit prediction (EPSS) score yet.
- Not on the CISA list of exploited vulnerabilities.
- No public exploit in Exploit-DB.
Is your app affected by CVE-2026-80668?
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Who is affected
- Linux Linux: 5e1c1d22268ae710c238342c8030c21daf298168 to < 3d7b808ec35291ee75dcdb2b6fe5f587bfe9b1df, d52fa1fa7440676b8c238037a050ab008c22737f to < 02f7809a19fc88cfd9bc113a4bfe7add6305db39, bffcaad9afdfe45d7fc777397d3b83c1e3ebffe5 to < 7ec786f4230c2a9b2eaf97a2d45368933b49d2b2, bffcaad9afdfe45d7fc777397d3b83c1e3ebffe5 to < b8b09dc2bf35a00d4e0556b5d6308c7b917ebda2
- Linux Linux: 7.0
How to check
- Find out whether you run the affected product and which version, then compare it with the versions above.
How to fix
Copies a prompt for Claude Code, Cursor or Codex that asks it to check whether you run this product.
- Apply the vendor's update or mitigation from the references below. If there is none yet, limit exposure of the affected service until there is.
- If a vulnerable version was live, check your logs and rotate the secrets that server could read.
The advisory
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
netfilter: nf_conntrack_expect: use conntrack GC to reap expectations
This patch replaces the timer API by GC worker approach for
expectations, as it already happened in many other subsystems.
Use the existing conntrack GC worker to iterate over the local list of
expectations in the master conntrack to reap expired expectations.
Check IPS_HELPER_BIT to run GC for expectations, set it on for nft_ct
expectation which nevers sets it. Hold the expectation spinlock while
iterating over the master conntrack expectation list to synchronize with
nf_ct_remove_expectations(). This also performs runtime packet path
garbage collection through the expectation insertion and lookup
functions while walking over one of the chains of the global expectation
hashtables. Unconfirmed conntrack entries are skipped since ct->ext can
be reallocated and dying are skipped since those will be gone soon.
Set on IPS_HELPER_BIT if the helper ct extension is added, then the new
GC worker does not need to bump the ct refcount to check if the ct->ext
helper is available.
This removes the extra bump on the refcount for expectation timers, this
allows to remove several nf_ct_expect_put() calls after the unlink,
after this update only refcount remains at 1 while on the expectation
hashes.
This patch implicitly addresses a race with the existing timer API
allowing an expectation to access a stale exp->master pointer which has
been already released when expectation removal loses races with an
expiring timer, ie. timer_del() reporting false.
Add a new NF_CT_EXPECT_DEAD flag to reap this expectation via GC. This
is needed by nf_conntrack_unexpect_related() which is called in error
paths to invalidate newly created expectations that has been added into
the hashes. These expectactions cannot be inmediately released as GC or
nf_ct_remove_expectations() could race to make it. On expectation
insert, the runtime GC reaps stale expectations before checking the
expectation limit set by policy.
Set current timestamp in nf_ct_expect_alloc(), then add the expectation
policy timeout (or custom timeout specified added on top of this) to
specify the expectation lifetime.
Check your whole app
Dependencies are only half of it. Free and read-only: before you push, run npx shippable-dev scan localhost:3000 in your project folder, no account needed. For your live app, you prove it's yours with a one-line tag first.
References
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/3d7b808ec35291ee75dcdb2b6fe5f587bfe9b1df
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/02f7809a19fc88cfd9bc113a4bfe7add6305db39
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/7ec786f4230c2a9b2eaf97a2d45368933b49d2b2
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/b8b09dc2bf35a00d4e0556b5d6308c7b917ebda2
Merged from CVE List. Last updated 26 Oct 2026. All vulnerabilities · RSS · JSON