CVE Watchtower

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CVE-2026-98851NVD

Vulnerability Summary

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

netfilter: nft_flow_offload: drop flowtable reference on init error path

nft_flow_offload_init() bumps the flowtable use count with
nft_use_inc() before calling nf_ct_netns_get(). When the latter
fails, the error is returned as-is and the reference is leaked.

The upper layers do not balance it either: nf_tables_newexpr()
clears expr->ops when the expression init callback fails, so the
nft_expr_more() iteration in nft_rule_expr_deactivate() and
nf_tables_rule_destroy() stops right before the failed expression
and its ->destroy callback, which would drop the reference, never
runs.

Each failed rule addition therefore leaks one flowtable reference
and the flowtable can no longer be removed: NFT_MSG_DELFLOWTABLE
keeps reporting -EBUSY even though no rule references it.

Save the nf_ct_netns_get() return value and undo the nft_use_inc()
when it fails, restoring the inc/dec pairing within
nft_flow_offload_init() itself.
Severity Level
UNKNOWN
Published Date
Oct 18, 2026
Last Modified
Oct 30, 2026
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation yet
EPSS Score (30-Day)
0.21%Probability
Root Weakness (CWE)
N/A

Affected & Patched Versions

Affected Versions
Not provided by NVD for this CVE.
Patched Versions
Not provided by NVD for this CVE.
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🎁7-Day Free Trial — Try Pro or Team, no card required.
📧Email Delivery — Threat intel straight to your inbox.
♾️Unlimited Vendors — Track your entire stack.
🚨All New CVEs — Be the first to know.
📈EPSS Spike Alerts — Catch rising risk before it peaks.
🎯Custom EPSS/CVSS — Filter noise, focus on risk.
🛡️Exploit Intel — A 2nd confirmed-exploit signal beyond KEV.
🐙GitHub Issues — Auto-tracked, no duplicates.
📬Weekly Digest — One clean summary, not inbox spam.
🏷️Watchlist Groups — Tag alerts by team (Infra/AppSec/SOC).
💬Webhooks — Slack & Teams integration.
🔀Smart Routing — Critical alerts to one channel, rest to another.
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