Local denial of service via leaked conntrack reference
Published Jan 2, 2024 · Updated Nov 20, 2025
Memory leak in Linux kernel netfilter on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 and 9 allows local users to exhaust memory through conntrack creation. When nf_conntrack_hash_check_insert() fails, ctnetlink_create_conntrack() omits nf_ct_put() for the master reference acquired by nf_conntrack_find_get(). Repeated access requires CAP_NET_ADMIN and can consume memory until host services are interrupted.
Summary
What happened
Memory leak in Linux kernel netfilter on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 and 9 allows local users to exhaust memory through conntrack creation. When nf_conntrack_hash_check_insert() fails, ctnetlink_create_conntrack() omits nf_ct_put() for the master reference acquired by nf_conntrack_find_get(). Repeated access requires CAP_NET_ADMIN and can consume memory until host services are interrupted.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-7192
- Published
- Jan 2, 2024
- Updated
- Nov 20, 2025
- Vendor
- Red Hat
- Product
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support
- Classifications
- CWE-401, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- admin
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jan 2, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Nov 20, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Affected versions are unavailable in this record. Check the vendor advisory for version and patch details.
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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