High · published August 22, 2026
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
bpf: Fix netns reference imbalance in conntrack kfuncs
The opts argument of the BPF conntrack kfuncs can point to a shared
map value. __bpf_nf_ct_lookup() and __bpf_nf_ct_alloc_entry() read
opts->netns_id separately when acquiring and releasing the network
namespace reference.
The reference imbalance can occur as follows:
CPU 0 CPU 1
read opts->netns_id (-1)
skip get_net_ns_by_id()
write opts->netns_id (id)
read opts->netns_id (id)
put_net(net) /* no matching get */
The reverse transition leaks the reference. Repeating the unmatched put
can destroy a live namespace and crash later users.
The kernel reported:
Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address
KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x00000000000000e8-0x00000000000000ef]
RIP: 0010:bpf_prog_test_run_xdp+0x52c/0x1700
Call Trace:
__sys_bpf+0x1662/0x50c0
__x64_sys_bpf+0x73/0xb0
do_syscall_64+0xf9/0x540
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f
Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception
Snapshot every input field of opts with READ_ONCE() before validating or
using it. The netns_id snapshot keeps the namespace get/put pair
balanced, while the other snapshots keep the remaining options from
changing partway through an invocation. The individual reads can still
observe an inconsistent combination during a concurrent update, but each
selected field value remains stable for that invocation.