CVE-2026-23016 (GCVE-0-2026-23016)
Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-01-31 11:38 – Updated: 2026-02-09 08:37
VLAI?
Title
inet: frags: drop fraglist conntrack references
Summary
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.
Severity ?
No CVSS data available.
Assigner
References
Impacted products
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Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
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