sctp: validate STALE_COOKIE cause length before reading staleness
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 5 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sctp: validate STALE_COOKIE cause length before reading staleness When an ERROR chunk with a STALE_COOKIE cause is received in the COOKIE_ECHOED state, sctp_sf_do_5_2_6_stale() reads the 4-byte Measure of Staleness that follows the cause header: err = (struct sctp_errhdr *)(chunk->skb->data); stale = ntohl(*(__be32 *)((u8 *)err + sizeof(*err))); err is the first cause in the chunk, not the STALE_COOKIE cause that caused the dispatch, and nothing guarantees the staleness field is present. sctp_walk_errors() only requires a cause to be as long as the 4-byte header, so for a STALE_COOKIE cause of length 4 the read runs past the cause, and for a minimal ERROR chunk past skb->tail. The value is echoed to the peer in the Cookie Preservative of the reply INIT, leaking uninitialized memory. sctp_sf_cookie_echoed_err() already walks to the STALE_COOKIE cause, so check its length there and pass it to sctp_sf_do_5_2_6_stale(), which reads that cause instead of the first one. A STALE_COOKIE cause too short to hold the staleness field is discarded. The read is reachable by any peer that can drive an association into COOKIE_ECHOED, including an unprivileged process using a raw SCTP socket in a user and network namespace.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- Yes
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 2.6.12 and later | 5.10.261, 5.15.212, 6.1.178, 6.6.145, 6.12.97, 6.18.40, 7.1.5, 7.2 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 2.6.12 and later Fixed in 5.10.261, 5.15.212, 6.1.178, 6.6.145, 6.12.97, 6.18.40, 7.1.5, 7.2 Patch available CNA
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.261, 5.15.212, 6.1.178, 6.6.145, 6.12.97, 6.18.40, 7.1.5, 7.2
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet |
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-64551
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-m58p-8fjh-3whj
- 2026-10-16 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-20 Weakness changed · CISA ADP
- 2026-10-31 CVSS score changed · Red Hat
References
Other 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6022da37786701df1fc5dd946a6dcba59d5473b1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/861f884f5471632c731cbbd612a1c072e391a624
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/588706ebaf8cdb4a4161602949eba365514b1db1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a257b41ddfe9e327b26581ad2777f04b23ac73f5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/08a8f2d13f703924316e9aeac863a88ef50990c7
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ebe0a55d954fa8da383b6192edb8f763dcb002d5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bbd6b2ea966cf57b6ae095cf5a8dbc993cd197a0
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1cd23ca80784223fa2204e16203f754da4e821f8
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Sources
- CVE-2026-64551 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-64551 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-m58p-8fjh-3whj · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-64551 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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