---
id: CVE-2026-98792
title: 'kernel: netfilter: flowtable: generalize pending status bit (CVE-2026-98792)'
summary: >-
  A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's netfilter flowtable component. This
  flaw allows an attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) by crashing the
  operating system. A race condition exists between the connection cleanup
  worker and hardw…
severity: medium
cvss: 5.9
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'
cvssSource: vendor
cwe: CWE-366
vendor: Red Hat
product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
affected:
  - enterprise_linux 10
  - enterprise_linux 8
  - enterprise_linux 9
  - openshift_container_platform 4
published: '2026-10-18'
updated: '2026-10-23'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-23T15:23:06+00:00'
source: CSAF
sourceUrl: 'https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98792.json'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98792.json
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-98792'
  - url: 'https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2555142'
  - url: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98792'
  - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98792'
  - url: >-
      https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/security/vulns.git/plain/cve/published/2026/CVE-2026-98792.mbox
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f7e292f3c8c853f27a1af7eaf3428a0e76fe5fcc'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4d52b72f3aa68ad0536444e36530bda75070194c'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4033e1a9262c57dfbfc594a591a50fcba63c531a'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a2cac45848d1cf31ed190db30f90ba8211e9a8ca'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7c549fb7eecd01fdba7c0d12c01da876ef8a3214'
tags:
  - csaf
  - vex
  - red-hat
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00168
epssPercentile: 0.05984
ingestedAt: '2026-10-18T16:47:32.485Z'
---

## Overview

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's netfilter flowtable component. This flaw allows an attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) by crashing the operating system. A race condition exists between the connection cleanup worker and hardware offload handlers when background tasks run concurrently while expired network flows are being removed.

## Vendor advisories

- **Red Hat VEX** · Moderate · affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 · no fix planned: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 · updated 2026-10-23 · [vex](https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98792.json)

**kernel: netfilter: flowtable: generalize pending status bit** — rated Moderate by Red Hat. Released 2026-10-18, updated 2026-10-23.

Affected:

- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4

No fix planned:

- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4

Not affected:

- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7

## Remediation

Fix deferred