From: Florian Westphal <fw@strlen.de>
To: <netdev@vger.kernel.org>
Cc: Paolo Abeni <pabeni@redhat.com>,
"David S. Miller" <davem@davemloft.net>,
Eric Dumazet <edumazet@google.com>,
Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>,
<netfilter-devel@vger.kernel.org>,
pablo@netfilter.org
Subject: [PATCH net 01/10] netfilter: conntrack: tcp: do not force CLOSE on invalid-seq RST without direction check
Date: Fri, 22 May 2026 12:42:48 +0200 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260522104257.2008-2-fw@strlen.de> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260522104257.2008-1-fw@strlen.de>
From: Hamza Mahfooz <hamzamahfooz@linux.microsoft.com>
An unintended behavior in the TCP conntrack state machine allows a
connection to be forced into the CLOSE state using an RST packet with an
invalid sequence number.
Specifically, after a SYN packet is observed, an RST with an invalid SEQ
can transition the conntrack entry to TCP_CONNTRACK_CLOSE, regardless of
whether the RST corresponds to the expected reply direction. The relevant
code path assumes the RST is a response to an outgoing SYN, but does not
validate packet direction or ensure that a matching SYN was actually sent
in the opposite direction.
As a result, a crafted packet sequence consisting of a SYN followed by an
invalid-sequence RST can prematurely terminate an active NAT entry. This
makes connection teardown easier than intended.
So, tighten the state transition logic to ensure that RST-triggered
CLOSE transitions only occur when the RST is a valid response to a
previously observed SYN in the correct direction.
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Fixes: 9fb9cbb1082d ("[NETFILTER]: Add nf_conntrack subsystem.")
Signed-off-by: Hamza Mahfooz <hamzamahfooz@linux.microsoft.com>
Signed-off-by: Florian Westphal <fw@strlen.de>
---
net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_proto_tcp.c | 3 ++-
1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
diff --git a/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_proto_tcp.c b/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_proto_tcp.c
index b67426c2189b..e99ab1e88e9f 100644
--- a/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_proto_tcp.c
+++ b/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_proto_tcp.c
@@ -1221,7 +1221,8 @@ int nf_conntrack_tcp_packet(struct nf_conn *ct,
new_state = old_state;
}
if (((test_bit(IPS_SEEN_REPLY_BIT, &ct->status)
- && ct->proto.tcp.last_index == TCP_SYN_SET)
+ && ct->proto.tcp.last_index == TCP_SYN_SET
+ && ct->proto.tcp.last_dir != dir)
|| (!test_bit(IPS_ASSURED_BIT, &ct->status)
&& ct->proto.tcp.last_index == TCP_ACK_SET))
&& ntohl(th->ack_seq) == ct->proto.tcp.last_end) {
--
2.53.0
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-05-22 10:43 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 14+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-05-22 10:42 [PATCH net 00/10] netfilter: updates for net Florian Westphal
2026-05-22 10:42 ` Florian Westphal [this message]
2026-05-25 17:40 ` [PATCH net 01/10] netfilter: conntrack: tcp: do not force CLOSE on invalid-seq RST without direction check patchwork-bot+netdevbpf
2026-05-22 10:42 ` [PATCH net 02/10] netfilter: synproxy: refresh tcphdr after skb_ensure_writable Florian Westphal
2026-05-22 10:42 ` [PATCH net 03/10] netfilter: nf_conntrack_gre: fix gre keymap list corruption Florian Westphal
2026-05-22 10:42 ` [PATCH net 04/10] netfilter: xt_cpu: prefer raw_smp_processor_id Florian Westphal
2026-05-22 11:06 ` Eric Dumazet
2026-05-22 10:42 ` [PATCH net 05/10] netfilter: disable payload mangling in userns Florian Westphal
2026-05-22 10:42 ` [PATCH net 06/10] netfilter: ebtables: fix OOB read in compat_mtw_from_user Florian Westphal
2026-05-22 10:42 ` [PATCH net 07/10] netfilter: nft_fib_ipv6: walk fib6_siblings under RCU Florian Westphal
2026-05-22 10:42 ` [PATCH net 08/10] netfilter: nft_fib_ipv6: handle routes via external nexthop Florian Westphal
2026-05-22 10:42 ` [PATCH net 09/10] selftests: netfilter: add nft_fib_nexthop test Florian Westphal
2026-05-22 10:42 ` [PATCH net 10/10] netfilter: nf_tables: fix dst corruption in same register operation Florian Westphal
2026-05-23 12:55 ` [PATCH net 00/10] netfilter: updates for net Florian Westphal
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