CVE-2025-38721

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.

A refcount leak in ctnetlink_dump_table() could pin a conntrack entry and prevent the conntrack table count from dropping to zero, stalling netns teardown or conntrack module removal (kernel worker spins in cleanup). Exploitation is local and generally requires CAP_NET_ADMIN to trigger table dumps.

The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.

Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options don't meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.