CVE-2026-80668

A flaw was found in the Netfilter subsystem of the Linux kernel, specifically within nf_conntrack_expect. A race condition exists between the removal of an expectation and an expiring timer, which can allow the system to access a stale pointer. This vulnerability could lead to system instability or a denial of service (DoS) condition.

This vulnerability is evaluated with a Moderate severity rating because successful exploitation requires highly specific connection tracking expectation rules and precise execution timing, primarily resulting in system crashes or kernel disruption. In typical Red Hat Enterprise Linux configurations, automatic connection tracking helpers are deactivated by default, significantly narrowing the attack surface. An attacker generally requires local access or network traffic matched against explicitly defined helper policies to trigger the race window.

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.