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.
Published: 2026-11-10
Score: n/a
EPSS: n/a
KEV: No
Impact: n/a
Action: n/a
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History

Tue, 10 Nov 2026 17:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values 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.
Title netfilter: nft_byteorder: remove multi-register support
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References

Subscriptions

Linux Linux Kernel
cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2026-11-10T17:37:13.348Z

Reserved: 2026-09-25T10:25:14.405Z

Link: CVE-2026-99285

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-11-10T18:17:49.147

Modified: 2026-11-10T18:17:49.147

Link: CVE-2026-99285

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.

Weaknesses

No weakness.