CVE-2026-53349
MediumCVSS 5.5Exploitation Probability (EPSS)
Low risk2th percentile - higher than 2% of all known CVEs
Summary
In the Linux kernel, a vulnerability in netfilter nf_conntrack causes nf_ct_helper_expectfn_unregister() to not remove pending expectations from the table, leaving a dangling pointer to freed module code. When the expected connection arrives, invoking this pointer results in a kernel crash.
Risk Assessment
An attacker with CAP_SYS_MODULE in the initial user namespace can trigger a kernel panic by unloading a NAT helper module with active expectations, enabling a denial-of-service (DoS) attack.
Recommendation
Apply the Linux kernel patch that introduces nf_ct_helper_expectfn_destroy() to remove expectations tied to the unloading module. Update to a kernel version containing this fix.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
See all- CVE-2026-99282Unknown
In the Linux kernel, net/sched: sch_teql contains a use-after-free vulnerability. teql_master_xmit() incorrectly treats NET_XMIT_DROP as an unconsumed packet and operates on freed memory. The issue affects configurations with VLAN interfaces and pfifo qdisc with limit 0.
- CVE-2026-99281Unknown
A flaw in the Linux kernel tun/tap mechanism allowed processes without CAP_NET_ADMIN to attach to persistent tun devices that had no owner or group set. Anyone able to open /dev/net/tun could attach to such devices and intercept or inject network traffic. The fix now requires CAP_NET_ADMIN to attach to an ownerless, groupless device.
- CVE-2026-99280Unknown
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ksmbd: drain session procfs readers before dropping table references. Session registration failure and connection cleanup can drop the table reference while the per-session procfs entry is still accessible. If a reader holds the last remaining reference, its final put calls proc_remove() from its own callback and waits for that callback to finish. Remove the procfs entry before dropping the table reference in the registration failure path. Queue sessions removed during connection cleanup and drain their procfs readers after releasing both session locks, then return their table references. Keep the global hash node unhashed while a session is queued so a concurrent unregister cannot drop the reference again. Previous-session replacement also destroys the file table before the session is finally freed. Detach the idr under the lock used by procfs file counters, and report zero files after it has been detached. This prevents a reader from accessing the idr during or after its destruction.
- CVE-2026-99278Unknown
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ksmbd: limit sessions on each connection. The pending setup limit only counts InProgress sessions. A client can complete authentication repeatedly and retain an unbounded number of Valid sessions on one connection. Reserve a connection slot before allocating a session and retain a connection reference while authentication is in progress. The first SMB3 channel takes over that reservation; binding to another connection reserves one slot there. Reauthentication and authentication continuation reuse the existing reservation. Return slots on allocation or insertion failure, channel removal, and final session destruction. Accept max_sessions_per_connection in reserved startup-request space and default to 64 when older tools leave it zero. Keep the request size and existing field offsets unchanged. Expose the configured limit in procfs. The existing connection limits bound the aggregate number of sessions without a separate global session allocation limit.
- CVE-2026-99259Unknown
In the Linux kernel, the soc/tegra: pmc driver has an uninitialised early_pmc->rate variable for legacy 32-bit Tegra devices. The variable is never configured and remains 0, triggering a warning in tegra_pmc_enter_suspend_mode(). The issue appeared after the PMC driver was changed to create the PMC context dynamically, updating rate only in the new context.
- CVE-2026-99258Unknown
In the Linux kernel, hv_apicid_to_vp_index() uses per-CPU hypercall input and output pages. In an SEV-SNP CoCo VM without a paravisor the output page is not allocated, so the hypervisor stores the resulting VP index into memory not allocated by the guest. The fix uses the input page for both input and output.
- CVE-2026-99257Unknown
In the Linux kernel, the shared GPIO mechanism based on platform lookup tables requires an associated struct device. An fwnode-based lookup with no associated device currently causes a NULL-pointer dereference. The fix adds a check that lets the kernel gracefully handle this situation with an error.
- CVE-2026-99256Unknown
In the Linux kernel, the dm cache module used a rw_semaphore for background_work_lock, although write locks on rw_semaphores have strict owner semantics. The locking process was not always the same as the unlocking one, triggering a warning with CONFIG_DEBUG_RWSEMS during suspend/resume of a cache device. The fix replaces the rw_semaphore with a spinlock and a wait queue.
- CVE-2026-99251Unknown
In the Linux kernel, init_vp_index() contains a retry loop that strips CPUs from a node if they are already in the allocated cpumask or outside the HK_TYPE_MANAGED_IRQ housekeeping cpumask. If the housekeeping cpumask contains no CPU in that node, the loop becomes infinite. The fix skips NUMA nodes with no housekeeping CPU and aborts early when no online housekeeping CPUs exist.
- CVE-2026-99250Unknown
In the Linux kernel, the NBCON console printing kthreads are started very early during boot via early_initcall(). Asynchronously enabling/disabling interrupts during early boot may interfere with early SMP setup on some hardware platforms, causing hangs. The fix postpones kthread startup until after all arch initcalls have completed.
Original NVD description (English source)
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nf_conntrack: destroy stale expectfn expectations on unregister NAT helpers such as nf_nat_h323 store a raw pointer to module text in exp->expectfn (e.g. ip_nat_q931_expect). nf_ct_helper_expectfn_unregister() only unlinks the callback descriptor and never walks the expectation table, so an expectation pending at module removal survives with a dangling exp->expectfn into freed module text. When the expected connection arrives, init_conntrack() invokes exp->expectfn(), now a stale pointer into the unloaded module. Reproduced on a KASAN build by loading the H.323 helpers, creating a Q.931 expectation, unloading nf_nat_h323, then connecting to the expected port: Oops: int3: 0000 [#1] SMP KASAN NOPTI RIP: 0010:0xffffffffa06102d1 init_conntrack.isra.0 (net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_core.c:1862) nf_conntrack_in (net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_core.c:2049) ipv4_conntrack_local (net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_proto.c:223) nf_hook_slow (net/netfilter/core.c:619) __ip_local_out (net/ipv4/ip_output.c:120) __tcp_transmit_skb (net/ipv4/tcp_output.c:1715) tcp_connect (net/ipv4/tcp_output.c:4374) tcp_v4_connect (net/ipv4/tcp_ipv4.c:345) __sys_connect (net/socket.c:2167) Modules linked in: nf_conntrack_h323 [last unloaded: nf_nat_h323] Reaching the dangling state requires CAP_SYS_MODULE in the initial user namespace to remove a NAT helper that still has live expectations, so this is a robustness fix; leaving an expectation pointing at freed text is wrong regardless. Add nf_ct_helper_expectfn_destroy(), which walks the expectation table and drops every expectation whose ->expectfn matches the descriptor being torn down. Call it from each NAT helper's exit path after the existing RCU grace period, so no expectation outlives the code it points at and no extra synchronize_rcu() is introduced. With the fix, the same reproducer runs to completion without the Oops.
Vulnerability data from NVD (NIST) · CISA KEV · EPSS

