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UK Cyber Defence
VulnerabilityAnalyzed

CVE-2026-53224

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,…

CRITICAL 9.1EPSS 0.52%

Does this matter?

High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (0.52%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.

Description

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.

CVSS 3.1
9.1 CRITICALCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H
EPSS
0.52% probability · 42th percentile
CISA KEV
Not listed
Weakness
CWE-125
Affected
linux/linux kernel
Source
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA. Refreshed daily.