Subject: [PATCH net 01/10] netfilter: conntrack: tcp: do not force CLOSE on invalid-seq RST without direction check

From: Florian Westphal <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 22 May 2026 12:42:48 +0200

From: Hamza Mahfooz <[email-masked]>

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: [email-masked]
Fixes: 9fb9cbb1082d ("[NETFILTER]: Add nf_conntrack subsystem.")
Signed-off-by: Hamza Mahfooz <[email-masked]>
Signed-off-by: Florian Westphal <[email-masked]>
---
 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