CVE-2026-43060 netfilter: nft_ct: drop pending enqueued packets on removal
A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel netfilter subsystem allows attackers to potentially execute code or escalate privileges by exploiting stale references to removed conntrack objects.
- 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-2026-43060?
CVE-2026-43060 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 5 May 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: nft_ct: drop pending enqueued packets on removal
Packets sitting in nfqueue might hold a reference to:
- templates that specify the conntrack zone, because a percpu area is used and module removal is possible. - conntrack timeout policies and helper, where object removal leave a stale reference.
Since these objects can just go away, drop enqueued packets to avoid stale reference to them.
If there is a need for finer grain removal, this logic can be revisited to make selective packet drop upon dependencies.
Weakness: CWE-416
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-43060?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2026-43060?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.
Is CVE-2026-43060 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-43060 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-43060, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-43060, GHSA-6c86-hp8g-chh5, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-43060, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-43060, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-43060 and 1 more.