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CVE-2026-89479

sctp: stop processing a packet once its association is deleted

9.8 EPSS 0.5% AV:N

Published 2026-09-11 (37 days ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem net/sctp. Debian urgency: not yet assigned.

What to do, per Debian release

Debian's own status for CVE-2026-89479 in every release this site tracks, and what each one means in practice. Every status below is the one the Debian Security Team publishes for this CVE. source

ReleaseStatus VersionWhat this means
Debian 12bookwormfixedDLA-4841-1 · 2026-10-17 · text6.1.190-1Update the kernel and reboot. DLA-4841-1 shipped the fix on 2026-10-17, in 6.1.190-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts.
Debian 13trixiefixedDSA-6528-1 · 2026-09-29 · text6.12.111-1Update the kernel and reboot. DSA-6528-1 shipped the fix on 2026-09-29, in 6.12.111-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts.
Debian 14forkyfixed7.2.6-1Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.6-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts.
Debian unstablesidfixed7.2.6-1Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.6-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts.
Debian 12bookworm · linux-6.12fixedDLA-4817-1 · 2026-10-04 · text6.12.111-1~deb12u1Update the kernel and reboot. DLA-4817-1 shipped the fix on 2026-10-04, in 6.12.111-1~deb12u1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts.

The vulnerability

What the bug is

sctp_endpoint_bh_rcv() looks the association up only when chunk->asoc is NULL, and caches the result in chunk->asoc and chunk->transport without taking a reference. A packet that matches no association is handed to the endpoint, so a peer can bundle COOKIE ECHO, SHUTDOWN and SHUTDOWN ACK in one packet. The COOKIE ECHO creates the association, the SHUTDOWN chunk caches it, and with the outqueue empty the SHUTDOWN ACK reaches sctp_sf_do_9_2_final(), so the association and its transports are freed. The endpoint loop has no counterpart to the asoc->base.dead check in sctp_assoc_bh_rcv(). The next chunk writes to last_time_heard in the freed transport and is then passed to sctp_do_sm() with the freed association. The transport is freed through RCU, so this needs the packet to come off the socket backlog, where the loop runs in task context. The endpoint loop cannot do the same check: it holds no reference on the association, so reading asoc->base.dead would itself be a use-after-free. Mark the packet for discard in the command interpreter, just before it deletes the association. That is also before sctp_inq_free() releases the chunk on the association receive path. sctp_sf_do_5_2_4_dupcook() issues SCTP_CMD_DELETE_TCB for the temporary association, while the one the packet belongs to stays alive. A restarting peer can bundle DATA behind its COOKIE ECHO, so compare against chunk->asoc and leave that case alone.

Where it lives

The fix touches these files. If the subsystem is one you do not use, the practical exposure is lower, though the package is still the vulnerable one.

net/sctp/sm_sideeffect.c

What this is
SCTP PROTOCOLMAINTAINERS section matched on net/sctp/ · linux-sctp@vger.kernel.org · Maintained
Kernel module
sctp

Check it on the machine

grep -w CONFIG_IP_SCTP /boot/config-$(uname -r)

Reads the booted kernel's own configuration, on the machine and nowhere else. =y is built in, =m is a module, and an is not set line means the code is not there.

lsmod | grep -w sctp

Prints a line if that module is loaded right now, and nothing if it is not. One that is not loaded can still be loaded later by anything that needs it.

Show whether Debian builds this, per release

Debian builds this as a loadable module. Every release below compiles it as a module on every flavour, so whether the code is in the running kernel depends on whether that module is loaded.

  • bookworm, trixie, forky, sid, bookworm · linux-6.12m
m
a loadable module on every flavour - check lsmod, can be blacklisted
Build switch
CONFIG_IP_SCTP

From the configuration Debian publishes for every kernel flavour it builds. It covers only the architectures Debian ships a linux-config package for, and nothing about a kernel you built yourself. Debian's own status above stays authoritative about the source package.MAINTAINERS kbuild Makefiles Debian linux-config packages

Signals

Published
2026-09-11 (37 days ago)source
CVSS
9.8 critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:Hsource recompute it
Attack vector
network (AV:N)source
EPSS
0.50%, higher than 41.5% of all CVEssource
CISA KEV
not listedthe KEV catalogue
Debian urgency
not yet assignedsource
Subsystem
net/sctp

Upstream fixes

The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source

IntroducedFixed inCommit
2.6.125.10.2707d970353eeb9
2.6.125.15.22109c3b193a3e8
2.6.126.1.188ed85fe91a61b
2.6.126.6.1575c0b2dbbdafc
2.6.126.12.109ee3f04cf566f
2.6.126.18.50fa306a40e716
2.6.127.2.4a713e1b3a265
2.6.127.347e15a8d12e3

Debian advisories

AdvisoryDateShipped toDebian
DLA-4841-12026-10-17bookworm 6.1.190-1tracker
DLA-4817-12026-10-04bookworm 6.12.111-1~deb12u1tracker
DSA-6528-12026-09-29trixie 6.12.111-1tracker

Why the CNA scored it this way

Quoted from the kernel CNA's own scoring file, word for word. A highlighted metric carries the most severe value CVSS v3.1 defines for it, which is what pushes the score up. source

AV:NAttack vector, network
The UAF is reached from sctp_rcv() when a remote peer sends a bundled SCTP packet (COOKIE-ECHO, SHUTDOWN, SHUTDOWN-ACK, then another chunk) to a listening internet-facing SCTP endpoint; no local syscall or link-local medium is required.
AC:LAttack complexity, low
The attacker fully controls the four-way handshake and the bundled chunk order that creates, caches, then deletes the association in one packet; forcing that packet onto the socket backlog is done with concurrent associations or recv/accept load the attacker generates, with no victim-only race.
PR:NPrivileges required, none
COOKIE-ECHO is the unauthenticated SCTP handshake completion using only the INIT-ACK cookie as anti-spoofing; a network peer needs no Linux account, capability, or namespace privilege on the victim host.
UI:NUser interaction, none
The kernel automatically processes inbound SCTP chunks in sctp_endpoint_bh_rcv()/sctp_do_sm(); no victim mount, file open, or other interactive action is required.
S:UScope, unchanged
Impact is kernel heap use-after-free of sctp_association/sctp_transport on the host; it does not cross a VM, container, or IOMMU boundary.
C:HConfidentiality impact, high
After DELETE_TCB the next bundled chunk reads freed asoc->state and other association fields and is passed into sctp_do_sm(); UAF of these slab objects enables heap grooming for arbitrary kernel disclosure.
I:HIntegrity impact, high
The same loop writes last_time_heard on the RCU-freed transport and mutates freed asoc fields (stats, last_data_from) before sctp_do_sm() runs with the dangling pointer, yielding a standard UAF write/control-flow primitive.
A:HAvailability impact, high
Dereferencing the freed association and transport in the endpoint receive loop can oops or panic the kernel, and a remote peer can repeat the bundled packet against any listening SCTP service.