Answer in brief
CVE-2026-80668 records a Unknown severity vulnerability in netfilter: nf_conntrack_expect: use conntrack GC to reap expectations. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. The current feed maps Linux/Linux (generic), Linux/Linux (generic). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.
Analysis pending evidence review
HOL Guard separates source facts from reviewed analysis. See the methodology.
A CVSS score is not reported in the current record. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. Treat this as a source-backed prioritization signal, not a statement about your environment.
Analysis status
Analysis pending evidence review
Factual feed record only; HOL analysis is not approved for indexing. Read the methodology.
The current feed maps Linux/Linux (generic), Linux/Linux (generic). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.
| Package | Affected range | Fixed version |
|---|---|---|
| Linux/Linuxgeneric | >=bffcaad9afdfe45d7fc777397d3b83c1e3ebffe5 <7ec786f4230c2a9b2eaf97a2d45368933b49d2b2 || >=bffcaad9afdfe45d7fc777397d3b83c1e3ebffe5 <b8b09dc2bf35a00d4e0556b5d6308c7b917ebda2 || 9e1196d27ef496f404c76f7a9d03761142d991c4 || 5e1c1d22268ae710c238342c8030c21daf298168 || d52fa1fa7440676b8c238037a050ab008c22737f || f338ced0473849c9f6ed0b77ca99f1aab5826787 || 497f99b26fffdc5635706d1b4811f1ed8ee21a5b || >=6.1.176 <6.2 || >=6.6.143 <6.7 || >=6.12.94 <6.13 || >=6.18.24 <6.19 || >=6.19.14 <6.20 | 7ec786f4230c2a9b2eaf97a2d45368933b49d2b2, b8b09dc2bf35a00d4e0556b5d6308c7b917ebda2, 6.2, 6.7, 6.13, 6.19, 6.20 |
| Linux/Linuxgeneric | 7.0 | Not reported |
Published upstream
Aug 28, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:recordSource modified
Aug 28, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:recordFirst seen by HOL
Aug 28, 2026
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nf_conntrack_expect: use conntrack GC to reap expectations This patch replaces the timer API by GC worker approach for expectations, as it already happened in many other subsystems. Use the existing conntrack GC worker to iterate over the local list of expectations in the master conntrack to reap expired expectations. Check IPS_HELPER_BIT to run GC for expectations, set it on for nft_ct expectation which nevers sets it. Hold the expectation spinlock while iterating over the master conntrack expectation list to synchronize with nf_ct_remove_expectations(). This also performs runtime packet path garbage collection through the expectation insertion and lookup functions while walking over one of the chains of the global expectation hashtables. Unconfirmed conntrack entries are skipped since ct->ext can be reallocated and dying are skipped since those will be gone soon. Set on IPS_HELPER_BIT if the helper ct extension is added, then the new GC worker does not need to bump the ct refcount to check if the ct->ext helper is available. This removes the extra bump on the refcount for expectation timers, this allows to remove several nf_ct_expect_put() calls after the unlink, after this update only refcount remains at 1 while on the expectation hashes. This patch implicitly addresses a race with the existing timer API allowing an expectation to access a stale exp->master pointer which has been already released when expectation removal loses races with an expiring timer, ie. timer_del() reporting false. Add a new NF_CT_EXPECT_DEAD flag to reap this expectation via GC. This is needed by nf_conntrack_unexpect_related() which is called in error paths to invalidate newly created expectations that has been added into the hashes. These expectactions cannot be inmediately released as GC or nf_ct_remove_expectations() could race to make it. On expectation insert, the runtime GC reaps stale expectations before checking the expectation limit set by policy. Set current timestamp in nf_ct_expect_alloc(), then add the expectation policy timeout (or custom timeout specified added on top of this) to specify the expectation lifetime.
Quoted source text, attributed separately from HOL analysis.