CVE-2026-72247

netfilter: nf_conncount: fix zone comparison in tuple dedup

Published Aug 15, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 7.5 High EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

netfilter: nf_conncount: fix zone comparison in tuple dedup

The "already exists" dedup logic in __nf_conncount_add() decides
whether a connection has already been counted and can be skipped instead
of incrementing the connlimit count. It compares the conntrack zone of a
list entry with the zone of the connection being added using
nf_ct_zone_id() and nf_ct_zone_equal(), passing conn->zone.dir or
zone->dir as the direction argument.

Those helpers take enum ip_conntrack_dir values: IP_CT_DIR_ORIGINAL is 0
and IP_CT_DIR_REPLY is 1. However, zone->dir is a u8 bitmask:
NF_CT_ZONE_DIR_ORIG is 1, NF_CT_ZONE_DIR_REPL is 2 and
NF_CT_DEFAULT_ZONE_DIR is 3. Passing that bitmask as the enum direction
shifts the meaning of every non-zero value. An ORIG-only zone passes 1
and is tested as REPLY, while REPL-only and default zones pass 2 or 3 and
test bits beyond the valid direction range. In those cases
nf_ct_zone_id() can fall back to NF_CT_DEFAULT_ZONE_ID instead of using
the real zone id, so different zones can be treated as equal and dedup
collapses to tuple equality alone.

nf_conncount stores and compares the original-direction tuple for a
connection. If an skb already has an attached conntrack entry,
get_ct_or_tuple_from_skb() explicitly copies
ct->tuplehash[IP_CT_DIR_ORIGINAL].tuple, regardless of the packet's
ctinfo. Therefore the zone comparison in the tuple dedup path must use
IP_CT_DIR_ORIGINAL as well; the zone direction bitmask describes where a
zone id applies, not which direction this conncount tuple represents.

Fix the two dedup comparisons by passing IP_CT_DIR_ORIGINAL directly.
Do not special-case NF_CT_DEFAULT_ZONE_DIR and do not compare raw zone
ids: using the existing helpers with IP_CT_DIR_ORIGINAL preserves the
direction-aware NF_CT_DEFAULT_ZONE_ID fallback. A default bidirectional
zone contains the ORIG bit, so it naturally returns the real zone id;
reply-only zones continue to fall back for original-direction tuple
comparisons.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

Source ID Title
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8876-1 Linux kernel (Azure CVM) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8875-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8877-1 Linux kernel (GCP) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8878-1 Linux kernel (GCP) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8879-1 Linux kernel (Oracle) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8887-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8888-1 Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8889-1 Linux kernel (OEM) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8887-2 Linux kernel (AWS) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8888-2 Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8875-2 Linux kernel (NVIDIA) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8887-3 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8917-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8918-1 Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9003-1 Linux kernel (NVIDIA) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9024-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9025-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9026-1 Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9029-1 Linux kernel (Raspberry Pi) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9040-1 Linux kernel (Low Latency NVIDIA) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9043-1 Linux kernel (NVIDIA) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9066-1 Linux kernel (HWE) vulnerabilities
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'yes', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-681
Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-681
Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-20
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-20
Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nf_conncount: fix zone comparison in tuple dedup The "already exists" dedup logic in __nf_conncount_add() decides whether a connection has already been counted and can be skipped instead of incrementing the connlimit count. It compares the conntrack zone of a list entry with the zone of the connection being added using nf_ct_zone_id() and nf_ct_zone_equal(), passing conn->zone.dir or zone->dir as the direction argument. Those helpers take enum ip_conntrack_dir values: IP_CT_DIR_ORIGINAL is 0 and IP_CT_DIR_REPLY is 1. However, zone->dir is a u8 bitmask: NF_CT_ZONE_DIR_ORIG is 1, NF_CT_ZONE_DIR_REPL is 2 and NF_CT_DEFAULT_ZONE_DIR is 3. Passing that bitmask as the enum direction shifts the meaning of every non-zero value. An ORIG-only zone passes 1 and is tested as REPLY, while REPL-only and default zones pass 2 or 3 and test bits beyond the valid direction range. In those cases nf_ct_zone_id() can fall back to NF_CT_DEFAULT_ZONE_ID instead of using the real zone id, so different zones can be treated as equal and dedup collapses to tuple equality alone. nf_conncount stores and compares the original-direction tuple for a connection. If an skb already has an attached conntrack entry, get_ct_or_tuple_from_skb() explicitly copies ct->tuplehash[IP_CT_DIR_ORIGINAL].tuple, regardless of the packet's ctinfo. Therefore the zone comparison in the tuple dedup path must use IP_CT_DIR_ORIGINAL as well; the zone direction bitmask describes where a zone id applies, not which direction this conncount tuple represents. Fix the two dedup comparisons by passing IP_CT_DIR_ORIGINAL directly. Do not special-case NF_CT_DEFAULT_ZONE_DIR and do not compare raw zone ids: using the existing helpers with IP_CT_DIR_ORIGINAL preserves the direction-aware NF_CT_DEFAULT_ZONE_ID fallback. A default bidirectional zone contains the ORIG bit, so it naturally returns the real zone id; reply-only zones continue to fall back for original-direction tuple comparisons.
Title netfilter: nf_conncount: fix zone comparison in tuple dedup
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References
Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
Linux
Published
Updated
Oct 16, 2026, 6:55 PM
Reserved
Aug 9, 2026, 3:40 AM
Status
Received
Published
Aug 15, 2026, 6:21 AM
Modified
Oct 16, 2026, 7:17 PM
Severity
Moderate
Public date
Aug 15, 2026, 12:00 AM