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CVE-2026-23016

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

inet: frags: drop fraglist conntrack references

Jakub added a warning in nf_conntrack_cleanup_net_list() to make debugging
leaked skbs/conntrack references more obvious.

syzbot reports this as triggering, and I can also reproduce this via
ip_defrag.sh selftest:

 conntrack cleanup blocked for 60s
 WARNING: net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_core.c:2512
 [..]

conntrack clenups gets stuck because there are skbs with still hold nf_conn
references via their frag_list.

   net.core.skb_defer_max=0 makes the hang disappear.

Eric Dumazet points out that skb_release_head_state() doesn't follow the
fraglist.

ip_defrag.sh can only reproduce this problem since
commit 6471658dc66c ("udp: use skb_attempt_defer_free()"), but AFAICS this
problem could happen with TCP as well if pmtu discovery is off.

The relevant problem path for udp is:
1. netns emits fragmented packets
2. nf_defrag_v6_hook reassembles them (in output hook)
3. reassembled skb is tracked (skb owns nf_conn reference)
4. ip6_output refragments
5. refragmented packets also own nf_conn reference (ip6_fragment
   calls ip6_copy_metadata())
6. on input path, nf_defrag_v6_hook skips defragmentation: the
   fragments already have skb->nf_conn attached
7. skbs are reassembled via ipv6_frag_rcv()
8. skb_consume_udp -> skb_attempt_defer_free() -> skb ends up
   in pcpu freelist, but still has nf_conn reference.

Possible solutions:
 1 let defrag engine drop nf_conn entry, OR
 2 export kick_defer_list_purge() and call it from the conntrack
   netns exit callback, OR
 3 add skb_has_frag_list() check to skb_attempt_defer_free()

2 & 3 also solve ip_defrag.sh hang but share same drawback:

Such reassembled skbs, queued to socket, can prevent conntrack module
removal until userspace has consumed the packet. While both tcp and udp
stack do call nf_reset_ct() before placing skb on socket queue, that
function doesn't iterate frag_list skbs.

Therefore drop nf_conn entries when they are placed in defrag queue.
Keep the nf_conn entry of the first (offset 0) skb so that reassembled
skb retains nf_conn entry for sake of TX path.

Note that fixes tag is incorrect; it points to the commit introducing the
'ip_defrag.sh reproducible problem': no need to backport this patch to
every stable kernel.
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HerstellerLinux
Produkt Linux
Default Statusunaffected
Version < 088ca99dbb039c444c3ff987c5412a73f4f0cbf8
Version 6471658dc66c670580a7616e75f51b52917e7883
Status affected
Version < 2ef02ac38d3c17f34a00c4b267d961a8d4b45d1a
Version 6471658dc66c670580a7616e75f51b52917e7883
Status affected
HerstellerLinux
Produkt Linux
Default Statusaffected
Version 6.18
Status affected
Version < 6.18
Version 0
Status unaffected
Version <= 6.18.*
Version 6.18.6
Status unaffected
Version <= *
Version 6.19-rc5
Status unaffected
Zu dieser CVE wurde keine CISA KEV oder CERT.AT-Warnung gefunden.
EPSS Metriken
Typ Quelle Score Percentile
EPSS FIRST.org 0.02% 0.039
CVSS Metriken
Quelle Base Score Exploit Score Impact Score Vector String
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