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No exploitation reported

CVE-2026-98442

net/sched: act_ct: fix helper UAF due to extensions realloc

No exploitation reported by the sources we read.

  • Published2026-10-18

Am I affected?

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Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/sched: act_ct: fix helper UAF due to extensions realloc While calling the helpers, a raw pointer to the extensions area is wired into expectations list: -> nf_ct_helper() -> helper->help() -> nf_ct_expect_related_report() -> nf_ct_expect_insert() -> hlist_add_head_rcu(&exp->lnode, &master_help->expectations) In case the connection is not confirmed yet, more extensions can be added afterwards with *_ext_add() calls reallocating the extension space and leaving the now invalid pointer in the expectations list that is later accessed while removing the expectation. Make sure that helpers are called at the end after all the other extensions are already added. Note that the helper rejection now leaves the mark and labels set, but that's not different from how the NAT was handled before or how the mark and the labels were handled on confirmation failure. And there are no atomicity guarantees provided by the API anyway.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2026-10-1816:16CVE publishedNVD

Observed activity

isMalicious corpus · updated 2026-10-24 15:37 UTC
Indicators tagged with this CVE, per day0 indicators over 7 days
Block these indicators
  • Firewall list (EDL, text): https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2026-98442?format=txt
  • CSV export: https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2026-98442?format=csv
  • TAXII collection of exploited CVEs
  • The EDL and CSV take an API key on the Pro plan.

Versions per branch

Distribution builds and vendor advisories

Packages from OSV.dev and products from the vendors' CSAF advisories.

version not verifiedVersions not verified: read as OSV.dev and the vendors publish them, not checked against each vendor's release list.

Vendor advisories

  • CVE-2026-98442 Red Hat Product Security186 known affected

    kernel: net/sched: act_ct: fix helper UAF due to extensions realloc

    kernel as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 · kernel-64k as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 · kernel-64k-core as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 · +183 more

Full record on NVD

Fix

  1. Workaround from the vendor Red Hat Product Security CVE-2026-98442 · 186 products--- CME Mitigation Guidance (2026-10-20) --- Disclaimer: The following mitigation solutions are provided as a courtesy, pending the application of an official patch. This content was generated utilizing AI tools in conjunction with data from https://cmetaxonomy.org. Customers are advised to indepen…
  2. No fix available, says the vendor Red Hat Product Security CVE-2026-98442 · 186 productsAffected

Detection

Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
no entry
Exploit-DB
Proof-of-concept repositories
none listed
PoC-in-GitHub

Sources

  • NVDCVE recordread 2026-10-24
  • CNACVSS 3.17.8read 2026-10-24
  • FIRST EPSSEPSS score0.2 %2026-10-23

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Published
2026-10-18
Last Modified
2026-10-24
NVD status
Received

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-98442?

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/sched: act_ct: fix helper UAF due to extensions realloc While calling the helpers, a raw pointer to the extensions area is wired into expectations list: -> nf_ct_helper() -> helper->help() -> nf_ct_expect_related_report() -> nf_ct_expect_insert() -> hlist_add_head_rcu(&exp->lnode, &master_help->expectations) In case the connection is not confirmed yet, more extensions can be added afterwards with *_ext_add() calls reallocating the extension space and leaving the now invalid pointer in the expectations list that is later accessed while removing the expectation. Make sure that helpers are called at the end after all the other extensions are already added. Note that the helper rejection now leaves the mark and labels set, but that's not different from how the NAT was handled before or how the mark and the labels were handled on confirmation failure. And there are no atomicity guarantees provided by the API anyway.

Is CVE-2026-98442 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2026-98442 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 0.2% on 2026-10-23, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-98442?

CVE-2026-98442 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.8 (HIGH severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

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