In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
netfilter: ctnetlink: fix refcount leak on table dump
There is a reference count leak in ctnetlink_dump_table():
if (res < 0) {
nf_conntrack_get(&ct->ct_general); // HERE
cb->args[1] = (unsigned long)ct;
...
While its very unlikely, its possible that ct == last.
If this happens, then the refcount of ct was already incremented.
This 2nd increment is never undone.
This prevents the conntrack object from being released, which in turn
keeps prevents cnet->count from dropping back to 0.
This will then block the netns dismantle (or conntrack rmmod) as
nf_conntrack_cleanup_net_list() will wait forever.
This can be reproduced by running conntrack_resize.sh selftest in a loop.
It takes ~20 minutes for me on a preemptible kernel on average before
I see a runaway kworker spinning in nf_conntrack_cleanup_net_list.
One fix would to change this to:
if (res < 0) {
if (ct != last)
nf_conntrack_get(&ct->ct_general);
But this reference counting isn't needed in the first place.
We can just store a cookie value instead.
A followup patch will do the same for ctnetlink_exp_dump_table,
it looks to me as if this has the same problem and like
ctnetlink_dump_table, we only need a 'skip hint', not the actual
object so we can apply the same cookie strategy there as well.
References
Configurations
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Configuration 2 (hide)
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History
19 Oct 2026, 21:10
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15 Oct 2026, 02:17
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Information
Published : 2025-09-04 16:15
Updated : 2026-10-19 21:10
NVD link : CVE-2025-38721
Mitre link : CVE-2025-38721
CVE.ORG link : CVE-2025-38721
JSON object : View
Products Affected
debian
- debian_linux
linux
- linux_kernel
CWE