# CVE-2026-23385: netfilter: nf_tables: clone set on flush only

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel netfilter subsystem can cause a system crash during set flushing, requiring a kernel patch.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **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:** Yes
- **Published:** 25 Mar 2026
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-94647, BELL-CVE-2026-23385, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23385, GHSA-g792-jhj8-228v, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-23385, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23385

## What is CVE-2026-23385?

CVE-2026-23385 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 Mar 2026. 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: nf_tables: clone set on flush only

Syzbot with fault injection triggered a failing memory allocation with
GFP_KERNEL which results in a WARN splat:

iter.err
WARNING: net/netfilter/nf_tables_api.c:845 at nft_map_deactivate+0x34e/0x3c0 net/netfilter/nf_tables_api.c:845, CPU#0: syz.0.17/5992
Modules linked in:
CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 5992 Comm: syz.0.17 Not tainted syzkaller #0 PREEMPT(full)
Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 02/12/2026
RIP: 0010:nft_map_deactivate+0x34e/0x3c0 net/netfilter/nf_tables_api.c:845
Code: 8b 05 86 5a 4e 09 48 3b 84 24 a0 00 00 00 75 62 48 8d 65 d8 5b 41 5c 41 5d 41 5e 41 5f 5d c3 cc cc cc cc cc e8 63 6d fa f7 90 <0f> 0b 90 43
+80 7c 35 00 00 0f 85 23 fe ff ff e9 26 fe ff ff 89 d9
RSP: 0018:ffffc900045af780 EFLAGS: 00010293
RAX: ffffffff89ca45bd RBX: 00000000fffffff4 RCX: ffff888028111e40
RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 00000000fffffff4 RDI: 0000000000000000
RBP: ffffc900045af870 R08: 0000000000400dc0 R09: 00000000ffffffff
R10: dffffc0000000000 R11: fffffbfff1d141db R12: ffffc900045af7e0
R13: 1ffff920008b5f24 R14: dffffc0000000000 R15: ffffc900045af920
FS:  000055557a6a5500(0000) GS:ffff888125496000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
CR2: 00007fb5ea271fc0 CR3: 000000003269e000 CR4: 00000000003526f0
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 __nft_release_table+0xceb/0x11f0 net/netfilter/nf_tables_api.c:12115
 nft_rcv_nl_event+0xc25/0xdb0 net/netfilter/nf_tables_api.c:12187
 notifier_call_chain+0x19d/0x3a0 kernel/notifier.c:85
 blocking_notifier_call_chain+0x6a/0x90 kernel/notifier.c:380
 netlink_release+0x123b/0x1ad0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:761
 __sock_release net/socket.c:662 [inline]
 sock_close+0xc3/0x240 net/socket.c:1455

Restrict set clone to the flush set command in the preparation phase.
Add NFT_ITER_UPDATE_CLONE and use it for this purpose, update the rbtree
and pipapo backends to only clone the set when this iteration type is
used.

As for the existing NFT_ITER_UPDATE type, update the pipapo backend to
use the existing set clone if available, otherwise use the existing set
representation. After this update, there is no need to clone a set that
is being deleted, this includes bound anonymous set.

An alternative approach to NFT_ITER_UPDATE_CLONE is to add a .clone
interface and call it from the flush set path.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23385?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-23385?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-23385 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23385 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-23385 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-23385 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 Mar 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23385 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23385/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23385/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23385
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23385
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23385

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23385/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.