KernelScan.io

CRITICAL Introduced in 2.6.24

sctp AuthChunk Bypass

CVE-2026-68300

CVSS 9.8 / 10.0 NVD

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

KernelScan AI9.1CRITICAL

01

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sctp: auth: verify auth requirement when auth_chunk is NULL sctp_auth_chunk_verify() returns true unconditionally when chunk->auth_chunk is NULL, silently skipping authentication. This is incorrect when: 1. skb_clone() failed in the BH receive path, leaving auth_chunk NULL. In sctp_endpoint_bh_rcv() asoc is NULL for new connections, so the early sctp_auth_recv_cid() check cannot catch this. 2. No AUTH chunk precedes COOKIE-ECHO, so skb_clone() is never called and auth_chunk remains NULL. Fix by checking sctp_auth_recv_cid() when auth_chunk is NULL: if authentication is required, return false to drop the chunk; otherwise continue normally.

02

Engine v0.6.0

Risk summary

An unauthenticated remote attacker can bypass SCTP AUTH chunk verification by sending a COOKIE-ECHO without a preceding AUTH chunk, or by triggering an skb_clone failure in the receive path. This allows the attacker to inject unauthenticated SCTP chunks, potentially leading to unauthorized connection establishment or data injection.

Affectednet/sctp/sm_statefuns.c (sctp auth)

Vulnerability analysis

When an SCTP endpoint receives certain chunks, the kernel incorrectly skips the authentication check if the authentication chunk is missing. This happens during new connection setup when the required authentication chunk is absent, or when a low-memory condition prevents the receive path from preparing the chunk data. The corrected code now checks whether the incoming chunk type actually requires authentication before accepting it, dropping the packet if authentication is mandatory but missing. Any remote attacker who can send SCTP traffic to a listening endpoint can trigger this bypass.

03

BranchIntroducedFixed inPatch commit
5.102.6.245.10.265a129792b3aef
5.152.6.245.15.2165a022ac51ad8
6.12.6.246.1.1836caf0e8590c0
6.122.6.246.12.10128c5fdce9dd9
6.182.6.246.18.4218957373920c
6.62.6.246.6.148ec2e157fc967
7.12.6.247.1.683f5031f2a6a
mainline2.6.247.28e04823c120b
cip/4.192.6.244.19.325-cip1361262c04a0090
cip/4.19-rt2.6.244.19.325-cip136-rt501262c04a0090
cip/4.42.6.244.4.302-cip115c5ed84728293
cip/4.4-rt2.6.244.4.302-cip115-rt63c5ed84728293
cip/5.102.6.245.10.268-cip77a129792b3aef
cip/5.10-rt2.6.245.10.268-cip77-rt34a129792b3aef
cip/6.12.6.246.1.187-cip606caf0e8590c0
cip/6.1-rt2.6.246.1.189-cip61-rt326caf0e8590c0
cip/6.122.6.246.12.101-cip2928c5fdce9dd9

04

State of the newest release of each Civil Infrastructure Platform SLTS tree, from CIP's own fix records.

CIP treeState
cip/6.12Fixed in 6.12.101-cip29
cip/6.1Fixed in 6.1.187-cip60
cip/6.1-rtFixed in 6.1.189-cip61-rt32
cip/5.10Fixed in 5.10.268-cip77
cip/5.10-rtFixed in 5.10.268-cip77-rt34
cip/4.19Fixed in 4.19.325-cip136
cip/4.19-rtFixed in 4.19.325-cip136-rt50
cip/4.4Fixed in 4.4.302-cip115
cip/4.4-rtFixed in 4.4.302-cip115-rt63