CVE Catalog

CVE-2026-98851

Low risk· EPSS 5%
Published: Updated: Translated: NVD NIST

Exploitation Probability (EPSS)

Low risk
0.16%

5th percentile - higher than 5% of all known CVEs

Summary

In the Linux kernel, nft_flow_offload_init() bumps the flowtable use count with nft_use_inc() before calling nf_ct_netns_get(). When the latter fails, the error is returned as-is and the reference is leaked, and upper layers do not balance it either because nf_tables_newexpr() clears expr->ops when the expression init callback fails. Each failed rule addition therefore leaks one flowtable reference.

Risk Assessment

The leaked reference prevents the flowtable from being removed — NFT_MSG_DELFLOWTABLE keeps reporting -EBUSY even though no rule references it, leading to resource leaks and firewall configuration management issues.

Recommendation

Update the Linux kernel to a version containing the fix that saves the nf_ct_netns_get() return value and undoes the nft_use_inc() when it fails.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

See all
Original NVD description (English source)

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nft_flow_offload: drop flowtable reference on init error path nft_flow_offload_init() bumps the flowtable use count with nft_use_inc() before calling nf_ct_netns_get(). When the latter fails, the error is returned as-is and the reference is leaked. The upper layers do not balance it either: nf_tables_newexpr() clears expr->ops when the expression init callback fails, so the nft_expr_more() iteration in nft_rule_expr_deactivate() and nf_tables_rule_destroy() stops right before the failed expression and its ->destroy callback, which would drop the reference, never runs. Each failed rule addition therefore leaks one flowtable reference and the flowtable can no longer be removed: NFT_MSG_DELFLOWTABLE keeps reporting -EBUSY even though no rule references it. Save the nf_ct_netns_get() return value and undo the nft_use_inc() when it fails, restoring the inc/dec pairing within nft_flow_offload_init() itself.

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