CVE-2026-53070 sctp: disable BH before calling udp_tunnel_xmit_skb()
A race condition in Linux kernel SCTP UDP tunneling causes packet drops and performance degradation when SCTP over UDP is enabled.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-53070?
CVE-2026-53070 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 24 Jun 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
sctp: disable BH before calling udp_tunnel_xmit_skb()
udp_tunnel_xmit_skb() / udp_tunnel6_xmit_skb() are expected to run with BH disabled. After commit 6f1a9140ecda ("add xmit recursion limit to tunnel xmit functions"), on the path:
udp(6)_tunnel_xmit_skb() -> ip(6)tunnel_xmit()
dev_xmit_recursion_inc()/dec() must stay balanced on the same CPU.
Without local_bh_disable(), the context may move between CPUs, which can break the inc/dec pairing. This may lead to incorrect recursion level detection and cause packets to be dropped in ip(6)_tunnel_xmit() or __dev_queue_xmit().
Fix it by disabling BH around both IPv4 and IPv6 SCTP UDP xmit paths.
In my testing, after enabling the SCTP over UDP:
# ip net exec ha sysctl -w net.sctp.udp_port=9899 # ip net exec ha sysctl -w net.sctp.encap_port=9899 # ip net exec hb sysctl -w net.sctp.udp_port=9899 # ip net exec hb sysctl -w net.sctp.encap_port=9899
# ip net exec ha iperf3 -s
- without this patch:
# ip net exec hb iperf3 -c 192.168.0.1 --sctp [ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 37.2 MBytes 31.2 Mbits/sec sender [ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 37.1 MBytes 31.1 Mbits/sec receiver
- with this patch:
# ip net exec hb iperf3 -c 192.168.0.1 --sctp [ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 3.14 GBytes 2.69 Gbits/sec sender [ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 3.14 GBytes 2.69 Gbits/sec receiver
Weakness: CWE-362
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-53070?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2026-53070?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2026-53070 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-53070 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as AZL-90471, BELL-CVE-2026-53070, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-53070, GHSA-q4jf-gp35-367g, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-53070, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-53070 and 3 more.