CVE-2026-80668 affecting package kernel 6.6.157.1-1
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 release
- Products
- kernel
- Affected versions
- Not specified
- Fixed versions
- Not specified
- CVEs
- CVE-2026-80668
- Confirmed fixed CVEs
- Not specified
- Updated in this feed
- 31 Oct 2026, 17:44 UTC · Revision 1
Source evidence
CVE-2026-80668 affecting package kernel 6.6.157.1-1
core-osv · Original sourcePublished 28 Aug 2026, 08:16 UTC
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 release
osv:AZL-98126
kernel
Fixed versions: Not specified
Complete source record
{
"id": "01867ff5cafdf23c3e1eb182bdfa9c72039117299f688d64c85b956f9b1c9f5c",
"url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/AZL-98126",
"method": "structured",
"payload": {
"kind": "advisory",
"title": "CVE-2026-80668 affecting package kernel 6.6.157.1-1",
"summary": "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 release",
"evidence": "osv:AZL-98126",
"products": [
{
"name": {
"value": "kernel",
"evidence": "/affected/0/package/name"
},
"prerequisites": [],
"fixed_versions": [],
"affected_versions": []
}
],
"severity": "unknown",
"structured": {
"id": "AZL-98126",
"aliases": [
"AZL-98126"
],
"affected": [
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"last_affected": "6.6.157.1-1"
}
]
}
],
"package": {
"name": "kernel",
"purl": "pkg:rpm/azure-linux/kernel",
"ecosystem": "Azure Linux:3"
},
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://github.com/microsoft/AzureLinuxVulnerabilityData/blob/main/osv/AZL-98126.json"
}
}
],
"modified": "2026-10-22T05:35:55Z",
"provider": "osv",
"upstream": [
"CVE-2026-80668"
],
"references": [
"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-80668"
]
},
"related_cves": [
{
"value": "CVE-2026-80668",
"evidence": "/upstream"
}
],
"security_relevant": true,
"severity_evidence": null
},
"source_id": "core-osv",
"document_id": 404524,
"published_at": "2026-08-28T08:16:52+00:00"
}