UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23385: High severity ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge vulnerability
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nftables: clone set on flush only Syzbot with fault injection triggered a failing memory allocation with GFPKERNEL which results in a WARN splat: iter.err WARNING: net/netfilter/nftablesapi.c:845 at nftmapdeactivate+0x34e/0x3c0 net/netfilter/nftablesapi.c:845, CPU#0: syz.0.17/5992 Modules linked in: CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 5992 Comm: syz.0.17 Not tainted syzkaller #0 PREEMPT(full) Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 02/12/2026 RIP: 0010:nftmapdeactivate+0x34e/0x3c0 net/netfilter/nftablesapi.c:845 Code: 8b 05 86 5a 4e 09 48 3b 84 24 a0 00 00 00 75 62 48 8d 65 d8 5b 41 5c 41 5d 41 5e 41 5f 5d c3 cc cc cc cc cc e8 63 6d fa f7 90 <0f> 0b 90 43 +80 7c 35 00 00 0f 85 23 fe ff ff e9 26 fe ff ff 89 d9 RSP: 0018:ffffc900045af780 EFLAGS: 00010293 RAX: ffffffff89ca45bd RBX: 00000000fffffff4 RCX: ffff888028111e40 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 00000000fffffff4 RDI: 0000000000000000 RBP: ffffc900045af870 R08: 0000000000400dc0 R09: 00000000ffffffff R10: dffffc0000000000 R11: fffffbfff1d141db R12: ffffc900045af7e0 R13: 1ffff920008b5f24 R14: dffffc0000000000 R15: ffffc900045af920 FS: 000055557a6a5500(0000) GS:ffff888125496000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00007fb5ea271fc0 CR3: 000000003269e000 CR4: 00000000003526f0 Call Trace: <TASK> nftreleasetable+0xceb/0x11f0 net/netfilter/nftablesapi.c:12115 nftrcvnlevent+0xc25/0xdb0 net/netfilter/nftablesapi.c:12187 notifiercallchain+0x19d/0x3a0 kernel/notifier.c:85 blockingnotifiercallchain+0x6a/0x90 kernel/notifier.c:380 netlinkrelease+0x123b/0x1ad0 net/netlink/afnetlink.c:761 sockrelease net/socket.c:662 [inline] sockclose+0xc3/0x240 net/socket.c:1455 Restrict set clone to the flush set command in the preparation phase. Add NFTITERUPDATECLONE and use it for this purpose, update the rbtree and pipapo backends to only clone the set when this iteration type is used. As for the existing NFTITERUPDATE type, update the pipapo backend to use the existing set clone if available, otherwise use the existing set representation. After this update, there is no need to clone a set that is being deleted, this includes bound anonymous set. An alternative approach to NFTITERUPDATECLONE is to add a .clone interface and call it from the flush set path.
Affected Software
Remediation
Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.
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ubuntu/linuxto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-149.149 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-awsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1069.74 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-azureto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1073.82 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-gcpto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1073.81 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-gketo a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1068.77 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-gkeopto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1053.57 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-ibmto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1069.70 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-lowlatencyto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-149.149.1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-oracleto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1067.71 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-vmwareto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1010.10 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-bluefieldto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1036.41 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-realtimeto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.1-1064.65 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-aws-fipsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1069.74+fips1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-azure-fipsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1073.82+fips1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-gcp-fipsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1073.81+fips1 - Configuration
Add NFT_ITER_UPDATE_CLONE and use it for the flush-set command in the preparation phase. Update the rbtree and pipapo backends to clone a set only when this iteration type is used; do not clone sets being deleted, including bound anonymous sets. For NFT_ITER_UPDATE, make the pipapo backend use the existing set clone when available, otherwise use the existing set representation.
Linux netfilter nf_tables NFT_ITER_UPDATE_CLONE = use for flush-set preparation only
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
What level of access does an attacker need to exploit this issue?
The supplied severity vector indicates local access, low attack complexity, and low privileges are required. No user interaction is required.
What is the potential impact if exploitation succeeds?
The severity vector rates confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact as high. It does not indicate impact on a separate security authority.
Which Ubuntu kernel packages are identified as affected?
The listed software includes ubuntu/linux, ubuntu/linux-riscv, ubuntu/linux-realtime, ubuntu/linux-azure, ubuntu/linux-gcp, ubuntu/linux-azure-fde, ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge, and ubuntu/linux-gke.
What condition triggered the reported failure?
The report states that syzbot triggered the issue using fault injection that caused a GFP_KERNEL memory allocation failure. The resulting behavior was a WARN splat in nft_map_deactivate in the nf_tables code.