sctp: validate embedded INIT chunk and address list lengths in cookie
CVE-2026-53224 · published 25 Jun 2026
How serious is it
- Severity: critical, CVSS score 9.1 out of 10.
- No exploit prediction (EPSS) score yet.
- Not on the CISA list of exploited vulnerabilities.
- No public exploit in Exploit-DB.
Is your app affected by CVE-2026-53224?
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Who is affected
- Linux Linux: 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 to < dd75066882ecc4ec8df3f5384b4b9fa9579be8f0, 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 to < 29ab56e7660b6f849c10c46e87e085649df751eb, 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 to < 7560afb8cddafd829e709d7ea09230e45a825557, 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 to < 512a9bb77c04ac9927648ea58af617e472be96e6
- Linux Linux: 2.6.12
How to check
- Find out whether you run the affected product and which version, then compare it with the versions above.
How to fix
Copies a prompt for Claude Code, Cursor or Codex that asks it to check whether you run this product.
- Apply the vendor's update or mitigation from the references below. If there is none yet, limit exposure of the affected service until there is.
- If a vulnerable version was live, check your logs and rotate the secrets that server could read.
The advisory
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
sctp: validate embedded INIT chunk and address list lengths in cookie
sctp_unpack_cookie() only checked that the embedded INIT chunk length
did not exceed the remaining cookie payload, but did not ensure that the
INIT chunk is large enough to contain a complete INIT header.
A malformed COOKIE_ECHO can therefore carry a truncated INIT chunk whose
length field is smaller than sizeof(struct sctp_init_chunk). Later,
sctp_process_init() accesses INIT parameters unconditionally, which may
lead to out-of-bounds reads.
In addition, raw_addr_list_len is not fully validated against the
remaining cookie payload. When cookie authentication is disabled, an
attacker can supply an oversized raw_addr_list_len and cause
sctp_raw_to_bind_addrs() to read beyond the end of the cookie. The
address parser also lacks sufficient bounds checks for parameter headers
and lengths, allowing malformed address parameters to trigger
out-of-bounds reads.
Fix this by:
- requiring the embedded INIT chunk length to be at least sizeof(struct
sctp_init_chunk);
- validating that the INIT chunk and raw address list together fit
within the cookie payload;
- verifying sufficient data exists for each address parameter header and
payload before parsing it.
Note that sctp_verify_init() must be called after sctp_unpack_cookie()
and before sctp_process_init() when cookie authentication is disabled.
This will be addressed in a separate patch.
Check your whole app
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References
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/dd75066882ecc4ec8df3f5384b4b9fa9579be8f0
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/29ab56e7660b6f849c10c46e87e085649df751eb
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/7560afb8cddafd829e709d7ea09230e45a825557
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/512a9bb77c04ac9927648ea58af617e472be96e6
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/6f4c80a2a7e6d06753b89a578b710a2499a5e62b
Merged from CVE List. Last updated 25 Oct 2026. All vulnerabilities · RSS · JSON