CVE Catalog

CVE-2026-23111

HighCVSS 7.8
Published: Updated: Translated: NVD NIST

Exploitation Probability (EPSS)

Low risk
0.34%

27th percentile - higher than 27% of all known CVEs

Summary

A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's netfilter nf_tables module involves an inverted genmask check in nft_map_catchall_activate(). During transaction abort, catchall map elements are not properly reactivated, causing a chain->use reference count leak and leading to a use-after-free condition.

Risk Assessment

This vulnerability allows local privilege escalation from an unprivileged user via user namespaces and nftables, potentially leading to full system compromise.

Recommendation

Immediately update the Linux kernel to a version containing the fix (commit removing the negation in the genmask check). For production systems, consider temporarily disabling the nf_tables module or restricting access to it.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

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Original NVD description (English source)

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nf_tables: fix inverted genmask check in nft_map_catchall_activate() nft_map_catchall_activate() has an inverted element activity check compared to its non-catchall counterpart nft_mapelem_activate() and compared to what is logically required. nft_map_catchall_activate() is called from the abort path to re-activate catchall map elements that were deactivated during a failed transaction. It should skip elements that are already active (they don't need re-activation) and process elements that are inactive (they need to be restored). Instead, the current code does the opposite: it skips inactive elements and processes active ones. Compare the non-catchall activate callback, which is correct: nft_mapelem_activate(): if (nft_set_elem_active(ext, iter->genmask)) return 0; /* skip active, process inactive */ With the buggy catchall version: nft_map_catchall_activate(): if (!nft_set_elem_active(ext, genmask)) continue; /* skip inactive, process active */ The consequence is that when a DELSET operation is aborted, nft_setelem_data_activate() is never called for the catchall element. For NFT_GOTO verdict elements, this means nft_data_hold() is never called to restore the chain->use reference count. Each abort cycle permanently decrements chain->use. Once chain->use reaches zero, DELCHAIN succeeds and frees the chain while catchall verdict elements still reference it, resulting in a use-after-free. This is exploitable for local privilege escalation from an unprivileged user via user namespaces + nftables on distributions that enable CONFIG_USER_NS and CONFIG_NF_TABLES. Fix by removing the negation so the check matches nft_mapelem_activate(): skip active elements, process inactive ones.

Vulnerability data from NVD (NIST) · CISA KEV · EPSS