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CVE-2026-74695
netfilter: nf_flow_table: drop existing skb dst before skb_dst_set_noref()
Published 2026-08-22 (2 months ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem net/netfilter. Debian urgency: not yet assigned.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-74695 in every release this site tracks, and what each one means in practice. Every status below is the one the Debian Security Team publishes for this CVE. source
| Release | Status | Version | What this means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 12bookworm | vulnerable | 6.1.190-1 | No fix published anywhere yet, neither in Debian nor upstream for the series bookworm tracks. Watch the Debian tracker page for this CVE. Advisories for bookworm have historically landed a median of 23 days after publication. |
| Debian 13trixie | vulnerable | 6.12.113-1 | No fix published anywhere yet, neither in Debian nor upstream for the series trixie tracks. Watch the Debian tracker page for this CVE. Advisories for trixie have historically landed a median of 11 days after publication. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 7.1.9-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.1.9-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.1.9-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.1.9-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
Incoming skbs passing through netfilter flowtable offload hooks (or XFRM offload path) might already carry a ref-counted dst_entry assigned during earlier RX or routing steps. Calling skb_dst_set_noref() when skb already holds a ref-counted dst overwrites skb->_skb_refdst, leaking the previous dst_entry reference count and triggering a DEBUG_NET_WARN_ON_ONCE assertion in skb_dst_check_unset(): WARNING: at skb_dst_check_unset include/linux/skbuff.h:1170 WARNING: at skb_dst_set_noref include/linux/skbuff.h:1234 WARNING: at nf_flow_offload_ip_hook+0xf6c/0x2b60 net/netfilter/nf_flow_table_ip.c:864 Drop any existing dst_entry reference with skb_dst_drop(skb) before setting the non-referenced flowtable destination.
Where it lives
The fix touches these files. If the subsystem is one you do not use, the practical exposure is lower, though the package is still the vulnerable one.
net/netfilter/nf_flow_table_ip.c
- What this is
- NETFILTERMAINTAINERS section matched on net/netfilter/ · netfilter-devel@vger.kernel.org · Maintained
- Kernel module
- nf_flow_table
Check it on the machine
grep -wE 'CONFIG_NETFILTER|CONFIG_NF_FLOW_TABLE' /boot/config-$(uname -r)Reads the booted kernel's own configuration, on the machine and nowhere else. =y is built in, =m is a module, and an is not set line means the code is not there.
lsmod | grep -w nf_flow_tablePrints a line if that module is loaded right now, and nothing if it is not. One that is not loaded can still be loaded later by anything that needs it.
Show whether Debian builds this, per release
Debian builds this as a loadable module. Every release below compiles it as a module on every flavour, so whether the code is in the running kernel depends on whether that module is loaded.
- bookworm, trixie, forky, sidm
- m
- a loadable module on every flavour - check lsmod, can be blacklisted
- Build switches
- CONFIG_NETFILTER, CONFIG_NF_FLOW_TABLE
- Reads as
- all on means the file is compiled; any one off means it is not.
From the configuration Debian publishes for every kernel flavour it builds. It covers only the architectures Debian ships a linux-config package for, and nothing about a kernel you built yourself. Debian's own status above stays authoritative about the source package.MAINTAINERS kbuild Makefiles Debian linux-config packages
Signals
- Published
- 2026-08-22 (2 months ago)source
- CVSS
- 7.5 high
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:Hsource recompute it - Attack vector
- network (AV:N)source
- EPSS
- 0.43%, higher than 35.4% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- not yet assignedsource
- Subsystem
- net/netfilter
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 4.18 | 6.18.45 | 12afa450a6a6 |
| 4.18 | 7.1.9 | 538e67e8c788 |
| 4.18 | 7.2 | 8aecf0bbcc72 |
| 4.16.15 | 0 | 0 |
| 4.17.1 | 0 | 0 |
Why the CNA scored it this way
Quoted from the kernel CNA's own scoring file, word for word. A highlighted metric carries the most severe value CVSS v3.1 defines for it, which is what pushes the score up. source
- AV:NAttack vector, network
- The bug fires in nf_flow_offload_ip_hook on NF_NETDEV_INGRESS when remotely sourced IPv4/IPv6 packets matching an offloaded flow are received on nftables flowtable-bound interfaces, not via netlink configuration APIs.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- Once a flowtable ingress hook and offloaded TCP/UDP flow exist, an attacker can reliably send matching traffic that reaches FLOW_OFFLOAD_XMIT_NEIGH or the XFRM offload path with a ref-counted skb dst; syzbot reproduced this without uncontrollable races.
- PR:NPrivileges required, none
- Exploitation requires only sending network traffic through an already deployed nftables flow-offload path on an ingress device; no local account, authentication, or CAP_NET_ADMIN on the victim is needed to trigger the leak.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- No victim interaction is required beyond normal network delivery; packets are processed automatically in softirq on the netdev ingress netfilter hook without opening files or mounting filesystems.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- Impact is confined to kernel refcount imbalance and availability degradation on the affected host; this is standard in-kernel compromise territory, not a VM escape, IOMMU bypass, or other cross-authority scope change.
- C:NConfidentiality impact, none
- The flaw leaks a dst_entry reference by overwriting skb->_skb_refdst without releasing the prior dst; it does not expose kernel memory or provide an arbitrary read primitive.
- I:NIntegrity impact, none
- No unauthorized data modification occurs; the skb is forwarded using the intended flowtable destination while the previous dst reference is orphaned, not corrupted into a controllable write primitive.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- Each matching packet leaks a dst_entry refcount on the flowtable fast path, enabling sustained unauthenticated remote memory exhaustion on high-volume routers; CONFIG_DEBUG_NET builds also emit WARN_ON_ONCE during the overwrite.