sctp: add INIT verification after cookie unpacking
CVE-2026-72398 · published 15 Aug 2026
How serious is it
- Severity: critical, CVSS score 9.8 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-2026-72398?
Paste this prompt into Claude Code, Cursor or any AI coding tool: it runs a free Shippable scan of your project and fixes what it finds. Built with Lovable, Bolt or v0? Scan your live app. Or upload your package file.
Who is affected
- Linux Linux: 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 to < 81892d83cc897331510f35b30d17f8b0dc285966, 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 to < 683a012b984fef4bc155e278742fbe01561e102a, 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 to < bca3100f550281c2f2418652338bced3b35af0e6, 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 to < 062bcbf8d1f1051fdeb20b94920031b0e2cb95a2
- 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: add INIT verification after cookie unpacking
In SCTP handshake, the INIT chunk is initially processed by the server
and embedded into the cookie carried in INIT-ACK. The client then
returns this cookie via COOKIE-ECHO, where the server unpacks it and
reconstructs the original INIT chunk.
When cookie authentication is enabled, the cookie contents are protected
against tampering, so reusing the unpacked INIT without re-verification
is safe.
However, when cookie authentication is disabled, the reconstructed INIT
can no longer be trusted. In this case, the INIT must be explicitly
validated after unpacking to avoid processing potentially tampered data.
Add sctp_verify_init() checks after cookie unpacking in COOKIE-ECHO
processing paths (sctp_sf_do_5_1D_ce() and sctp_sf_do_5_2_4_dupcook())
when cookie_auth_enable is disabled. On failure, the new association is
freed and the packet is discarded.
Also tighten cookie validation in sctp_unpack_cookie() by verifying the
embedded chunk type is SCTP_CID_INIT before treating it as an INIT
chunk.
Finally, update sctp_verify_init() to validate parameter bounds using
the actual embedded INIT length instead of chunk->chunk_end, since the
INIT stored in COOKIE-ECHO may not span the entire chunk buffer.
Check your whole app
Dependencies are only half of it. Free and read-only: before you push, run npx shippable-dev scan localhost:3000 in your project folder, no account needed. For your live app, you prove it's yours with a one-line tag first.
References
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/81892d83cc897331510f35b30d17f8b0dc285966
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/683a012b984fef4bc155e278742fbe01561e102a
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/bca3100f550281c2f2418652338bced3b35af0e6
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/062bcbf8d1f1051fdeb20b94920031b0e2cb95a2
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/414c5447fe6a200613dd46d7fdc8454622076cb1
Merged from CVE List. Last updated 25 Oct 2026. All vulnerabilities · RSS · JSON