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NTAP-20260320-0013 — CVE-2026-23231 Linux Kernel Vulnerability in NetApp Products

Published 2026-03-20 · Updated 2026-09-07 · Status: Interim · Exploitation: Public · Severity: HIGH 7.8 · ONTAP affected: Yes

Official advisory: NTAP-20260320-0013 on security.netapp.com ↗. Affected versions, fixed releases, and workarounds live there — this page is a summary.

Product family: Active IQ Unified Manager · ONTAP · Other NetApp products · NetApp Console / BlueXP · SolidFire / NetApp HCI | ONTAP-relevant | highest CVSS: 7.8

CVEs in this advisory

CVE-2026-23231 — HIGH · CVSS 7.8 · site index

What the CVE records say

CVE-2026-23231 — In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nf_tables: fix use-after-free in nf_tables_addchain() nf_tables_addchain() publishes the chain to table->chains via list_add_tail_rcu() (in nft_chain_add()) before registering hooks. If nf_tables_register_hook() then fails, the error path calls nft_chain_del() (list_del_rcu()) followed by nf_tables_chain_destroy() with no RCU grace period in between. This creates two use-after-free conditions: 1) Control-plane: nf_tables_dump_chains() traverses table->chains under rcu_read_lock(). A concurrent dump can still be walking the chain when the error path frees it. 2) Packet path: for NFPROTO_INET, nf_register_net_hook() briefly installs the IPv4 hook before IPv6 registration fails. Packets entering nft_do_chain() via the transient IPv4 hook can still be dereferencing chain->blob_gen_X when the error path frees the chain. Add synchronize_rcu() between nft_chain_del() and the chain destroy so that all RCU readers -- both dump threads and in-flight packet evaluation -- have finished before the chain is freed.

Impact

Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could lead to disclosure of sensitive information, addition or modification of data, or Denial of Service (DoS).

Affected products

Active IQ Unified Manager for VMware vSphere
ONTAP tools for VMware vSphere 10
FAS/AFF BIOS - A900/9500
NetApp Console Agent OVA
NetApp SolidFire & HCI Management Node
NetApp SolidFire & HCI Storage Node (Element Software)

Official fixes

ONTAP tools for VMware vSphere 10 — vendor fix ↗

References

https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2026030436-CVE-2026-23231-1a96@gregkh/T/#u ↗

What to do

Check the affected products listed above against the official advisory's affected-versions table — that is where the exact ONTAP 9 release, ONTAP tool, or management product versions are named.
If affected and a fixed release exists, plan the upgrade — see the ONTAP upgrade runbook.
If exploitation is listed as "active", treat remediation as urgent and review exposure (management LIFs, ONTAP S3, SnapMirror endpoints).
Harden in parallel: security hardening baseline and ransomware protection on ONTAP.