CVE-2026-43026

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: ctnetlink: zero expect NAT fields when CTA_EXPECT_NAT absent ctnetlink_alloc_expect() allocates expectations from a non-zeroing slab cache via nf_ct_expect_alloc(). When CTA_EXPECT_NAT is not present in the netlink message, saved_addr and saved_proto are never initialized. Stale data from a previous slab occupant can then be dumped to userspace by ctnetlink_exp_dump_expect(), which checks these fields to decide whether to emit CTA_EXPECT_NAT. The safe sibling nf_ct_expect_init(), used by the packet path, explicitly zeroes these fields. Zero saved_addr, saved_proto and dir in the else branch, guarded by IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_NF_NAT) since these fields only exist when NAT is enabled. Confirmed by priming the expect slab with NAT-bearing expectations, freeing them, creating a new expectation without CTA_EXPECT_NAT, and observing that the ctnetlink dump emits a spurious CTA_EXPECT_NAT containing stale data from the prior allocation.

References

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1c2ebdeff8d088a2e47ae25d7b38447249adace2
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2898080c054ea4d6ddfaaf21bbedbc229a9a8376
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/35177c6877134a21315f37d57a5577846225623e
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/929f7a9a7aad9404a5867216c3f8738232355b38
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a5a89db6981a1ddf2314bf50cb49db5a3146185f