CVE-2026-99285
netfilter: nft_byteorder: remove multi-register support
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nft_byteorder: remove multi-register support 64bit byteorder conversion is broken when several registers need to be converted because the source register array advances in steps for 4 bytes instead of 8: for (i = ... src64 = nft_reg_load64(&src[i]); ~~~~~ u32 *src nft_reg_store64(&dst64[i], Remove the multi-register support, it has other issues as well: Pablo points out that commit caf3ef7468f7 ("netfilter: nf_tables: prevent OOB access in nft_byteorder_eval") alters semantics: before the loop operated on registers, i.e. for ( ... ) dst32[i] = htons((u16)src32[i]) .. but after the patch it will operate on bytes, which makes this useless to convert e.g. concatenations, which store each compound in its own register. Multi-convert of u32 has one theoretical application: ct mark . meta mark . tcp dport @intervalset Because ct mark and meta mark are host byte order, use with intervals has to convert the byteorder for ct/meta mark value to network byte order (bigendian). nftables emits this: [ meta load mark => reg 1 ] [ byteorder reg 1 = hton(reg 1, 4, 4) ] [ ct load mark => reg 9 ] [ byteorder reg 9 = hton(reg 9, 4, 4) ] ... I.e. two separate calls. Theoretically it could be changed to do: [ meta load mark => reg 1 ] [ ct load mark => reg 9 ] [ byteorder reg 1 = htonl(reg 1, 4, 8) ] ... But then all it would take to change the set to meta mark . tcp dport . ct mark ... and we'd be back to two "byteorder" calls. IOW, support to convert a range of registers is both dysfunctional and dubious. Simplify this: remove the feature. Pablo Neira Ayuso points out that nftables before 1.1.0 can generate incorrect byteorder conversions, see 9fe58952c45a, "evaluate: skip byteorder conversion for selector smaller than 2 bytes" in nftables.git). Affected rulesets fail to load with this change and old userspace due to 'len != size' check.
INFO
Published Date :
Nov. 10, 2026, 6:17 p.m.
Last Modified :
Nov. 10, 2026, 6:17 p.m.
Remotely Exploit :
No
Source :
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Solution
- Update nftables userspace to version 1.1.0 or later.
- Avoid rulesets that perform byteorder conversions on selectors.
- Validate byteorder conversion logic in older nftables versions.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
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information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to
CVE-2026-99285.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-99285 is
associated with the following CWEs:
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification
(CAPEC)
stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and
approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-99285
weaknesses.
We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).
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CVE-2026-99285 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2026-99285 vulnerability over time.
Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.
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New CVE Received by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Nov. 10, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nft_byteorder: remove multi-register support 64bit byteorder conversion is broken when several registers need to be converted because the source register array advances in steps for 4 bytes instead of 8: for (i = ... src64 = nft_reg_load64(&src[i]); ~~~~~ u32 *src nft_reg_store64(&dst64[i], Remove the multi-register support, it has other issues as well: Pablo points out that commit caf3ef7468f7 ("netfilter: nf_tables: prevent OOB access in nft_byteorder_eval") alters semantics: before the loop operated on registers, i.e. for ( ... ) dst32[i] = htons((u16)src32[i]) .. but after the patch it will operate on bytes, which makes this useless to convert e.g. concatenations, which store each compound in its own register. Multi-convert of u32 has one theoretical application: ct mark . meta mark . tcp dport @intervalset Because ct mark and meta mark are host byte order, use with intervals has to convert the byteorder for ct/meta mark value to network byte order (bigendian). nftables emits this: [ meta load mark => reg 1 ] [ byteorder reg 1 = hton(reg 1, 4, 4) ] [ ct load mark => reg 9 ] [ byteorder reg 9 = hton(reg 9, 4, 4) ] ... I.e. two separate calls. Theoretically it could be changed to do: [ meta load mark => reg 1 ] [ ct load mark => reg 9 ] [ byteorder reg 1 = htonl(reg 1, 4, 8) ] ... But then all it would take to change the set to meta mark . tcp dport . ct mark ... and we'd be back to two "byteorder" calls. IOW, support to convert a range of registers is both dysfunctional and dubious. Simplify this: remove the feature. Pablo Neira Ayuso points out that nftables before 1.1.0 can generate incorrect byteorder conversions, see 9fe58952c45a, "evaluate: skip byteorder conversion for selector smaller than 2 bytes" in nftables.git). Affected rulesets fail to load with this change and old userspace due to 'len != size' check. Added Affected New affected value received. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/99xxx/CVE-2026-99285.json">CVE-2026-99285</a> Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3c5fb3a6c8118d15e60295e76fb5b879021eef43 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bb061d3de41707415269be75ebf700efb03ec212 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dc29c0478b8564feb9371e715b5a0016eb8903fd