Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2026-43450
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nfnetlink_cthelper: fix OOB read in nfnl_cthelper_dump_table() nfnl_cthelper_dump_table() has a 'goto restart' that jumps to a label inside the for loop body. When the "last" helper saved in cb->args[1] is deleted between dump rounds, every entry fails the (cur != last) check, so cb->args[1] is never cleared. The for loop finishes with cb->args[0] == nf_ct_helper_hsize, and the 'goto restart' jumps back into the loop body bypassing the bounds check, causing an 8-byte out-of-bounds read on nf_ct_helper_hash[nf_ct_helper_hsize]. The 'goto restart' block was meant to re-traverse the current bucket when "last" is no longer found, but it was placed after the for loop instead of inside it. Move the block into the for loop body so that the restart only occurs while cb->args[0] is still within bounds. BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in nfnl_cthelper_dump_table+0x9f/0x1b0 Read of size 8 at addr ffff888104ca3000 by task poc_cthelper/131 Call Trace: nfnl_cthelper_dump_table+0x9f/0x1b0 netlink_dump+0x333/0x880 netlink_recvmsg+0x3e2/0x4b0 sock_recvmsg+0xde/0xf0 __sys_recvfrom+0x150/0x200 __x64_sys_recvfrom+0x76/0x90 do_syscall_64+0xc3/0x6e0 Allocated by task 1: __kvmalloc_node_noprof+0x21b/0x700 nf_ct_alloc_hashtable+0x65/0xd0 nf_conntrack_helper_init+0x21/0x60 nf_conntrack_init_start+0x18d/0x300 nf_conntrack_standalone_init+0x12/0xc0
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysisThe code reads past the end (or before the start) of a buffer, returning memory that was never meant to be exposed. Attackers use it to leak secrets like keys or to defeat memory-protection defences. Remediation is validating indices and lengths before every read.
General guidance for the out-of-bounds read class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
>= 3.6, < 5.10.253>= 5.11, < 5.15.203>= 5.16, < 6.1.167>= 6.2, < 6.6.130>= 6.7, < 6.12.78>= 6.13, < 6.18.19>= 6.19, < 6.19.9= 7.0CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
dbcve · scoped5.10.2535.15.2036.1.167
Upgrade to one of: 5.10.253+, 5.15.203+, 6.1.167+, or 6.6.130+ depending on your current major version branch
- Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using `uname -r`
- Based on the running kernel version, upgrade to the first fixed version in that release branch:
- - For 5.10.x kernels: upgrade to 5.10.253 or later
- - For 5.15.x kernels: upgrade to 5.15.203 or later
- - For 6.1.x kernels: upgrade to 6.1.167 or later
- - For 6.2.x through 6.5.x kernels: upgrade to 6.6.130 or later
- - For 6.7+ kernels: the vulnerability may already be fixed; verify with your distribution
- Apply the upgrade via your distribution's package manager (e.g., `apt-get dist-upgrade`, `yum update`, or `dnf upgrade`)
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-43450 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-43450 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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