CVE-2021-47129 netfilter: nft_ct: skip expectations for confirmed conntrack

High 7.8 Published Updated

A logic error in the Linux kernel netfilter module causes a kernel warning and potential crash when processing confirmed conntrack entries.

Exploited in the wild
Not known
Login needed
Any signed-in user
Attackable
Local or same network only
Victim action needed
Not needed
Fix
Available

What is CVE-2021-47129?

CVE-2021-47129 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 15 Mar 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

netfilter: nft_ct: skip expectations for confirmed conntrack

nft_ct_expect_obj_eval() calls nf_ct_ext_add() for a confirmed conntrack entry. However, nf_ct_ext_add() can only be called for !nf_ct_is_confirmed().

[ 1825.349056] WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 1279 at net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_extend.c:48 nf_ct_xt_add+0x18e/0x1a0 [nf_conntrack] [ 1825.351391] RIP: 0010:nf_ct_ext_add+0x18e/0x1a0 [nf_conntrack] [ 1825.351493] Code: 41 5c 41 5d 41 5e 41 5f c3 41 bc 0a 00 00 00 e9 15 ff ff ff ba 09 00 00 00 31 f6 4c 89 ff e8 69 6c 3d e9 eb 96 45 31 ed eb cd <0f> 0b e9 b1 fe ff ff e8 86 79 14 e9 eb bf 0f 1f 40 00 0f 1f 44 00 [ 1825.351721] RSP: 0018:ffffc90002e1f1e8 EFLAGS: 00010202 [ 1825.351790] RAX: 000000000000000e RBX: ffff88814f5783c0 RCX: ffffffffc0e4f887 [ 1825.351881] RDX: dffffc0000000000 RSI: 0000000000000008 RDI: ffff88814f578440 [ 1825.351971] RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: ffff88814f578447 [ 1825.352060] R10: ffffed1029eaf088 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: ffff88814f578440 [ 1825.352150] R13: ffff8882053f3a00 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 0000000000000a20 [ 1825.352240] FS: 00007f992261c900(0000) GS:ffff889faec00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 1825.352343] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 1825.352417] CR2: 000056070a4d1158 CR3: 000000015efe0000 CR4: 0000000000350ee0 [ 1825.352508] Call Trace: [ 1825.352544] nf_ct_helper_ext_add+0x10/0x60 [nf_conntrack] [ 1825.352641] nft_ct_expect_obj_eval+0x1b8/0x1e0 [nft_ct] [ 1825.352716] nft_do_chain+0x232/0x850 [nf_tables]

Add the ct helper extension only for unconfirmed conntrack. Skip rule evaluation if the ct helper extension does not exist. Thus, you can only create expectations from the first packet.

It should be possible to remove this limitation by adding a new action to attach a generic ct helper to the first packet. Then, use this ct helper extension from follow up packets to create the ct expectation.

While at it, add a missing check to skip the template conntrack too and remove check for IPCT_UNTRACK which is implicit to !ct.

Weakness: CWE-273

Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-47129?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2021-47129?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Is CVE-2021-47129 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-47129 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2021-47129, GHSA-w7x4-qp38-gw56, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-47129.

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