CVE-2026-31495: netfilter: ctnetlink: use netlink policy range checks

Published Apr 22, 2026
·
Updated

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

netfilter: ctnetlink: use netlink policy range checks

Replace manual range and mask validations with netlink policy annotations in ctnetlink code paths, so that the netlink core rejects invalid values early and can generate extack errors.

- CTAPROTOINFOTCPSTATE: reject values > TCPCONNTRACKSYNSENT2 at policy level, removing the manual >= TCPCONNTRACKMAX check. - CTAPROTOINFOTCPWSCALEORIGINAL/REPLY: reject values > TCPMAXWSCALE (14). The normal TCP option parsing path already clamps to this value, but the ctnetlink path accepted 0-255, causing undefined behavior when used as a u32 shift count. - CTAFILTERORIGFLAGS/REPLYFLAGS: use NLAPOLICYMASK with CTAFILTERFALL, removing the manual mask checks. - CTAEXPECTFLAGS: use NLAPOLICYMASK with NFCTEXPECTMASK, adding a new mask define grouping all valid expect flags.

Extracted from a broader nf-next patch by Florian Westphal, scoped to ctnetlink for the fixes tree.

Affected Software

17 affected componentsFixes available
Linux Linux kernel (netfilter ctnetlink)
Linux Linux kernel>=2.6.22.1<5.10.253
Linux Linux kernel>=5.11<5.15.203
Linux Linux kernel>=5.16<6.1.168
Linux Linux kernel>=6.2<6.6.131
Linux Linux kernel>=6.7<6.12.80
Linux Linux kernel>=6.13<6.18.21
Linux Linux kernel>=6.19<6.19.11
Linux Linux kernel=2.6.22
Linux Linux kernel=7.0-rc1
Linux Linux kernel=7.0-rc2
Linux Linux kernel=7.0-rc3
Linux Linux kernel=7.0-rc4
Linux Linux kernel=7.0-rc5
Linux Linux kernel=7.0-rc6
Linux Linux kernel=7.0-rc7
Microsoft azl3 kernel 6.6.130.1-3

Event History

Apr 22, 2026
CVE Published
via MITRE·01:54 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·01:54 PM
Description
Data Sourced
via NVD·02:16 PM
RemedyDescriptionSeverityAffected Software
Apr 23, 2026
Data Sourced
via Microsoft·08:07 AM
DescriptionSeverityWeakness
Data Sourced
via Microsoft·08:07 AM
Affected Software
Updated
via Microsoft·08:07 AM
DescriptionSeverity

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