Critical severity · published Sep 11, 2026
CVE-2026-89479
sctp: stop processing a packet once its association is deleted
9.8
CVSS
0.5%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sctp: stop processing a packet once its association is deleted 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.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.5% · higher than 43% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
LI
Linux · Linux
1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 before 7d970353eeb98f46a3b9dc602850e4f6336a9889; 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 before 09c3b193a3e8fe53e1f416e2f8e3283d2a785405; 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 before ed85fe91a61bc0e0da6b585c07102b20f4cc65a0; 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 before 5c0b2dbbdafc9eeeb11fffe1e46551fc3b55d8ee; 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 before ee3f04cf566f6041aa9a0360494fd8db5ade383a; 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 before fa306a40e716c5abcd967475459ce1ebd56e5115; +3 more · source: vendor