CVE-2026-74287 sctp: validate embedded address parameter length
A remote attacker can trigger out-of-bounds reads in the Linux kernel SCTP implementation by sending malformed ASCONF parameters, potentially causing crashes or leaking memory.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-74287?
CVE-2026-74287 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 Aug 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: validate embedded address parameter length
sctp_verify_asconf() and sctp_verify_param() only validate ADD_IP, DEL_IP, and SET_PRIMARY parameters against a fixed minimum size of sizeof(struct sctp_addip_param) + sizeof(struct sctp_paramhdr). This ensures the outer parameter is large enough to contain an embedded address parameter header, but does not verify that the embedded address parameter's declared length fits within the bounds of the outer parameter.
Later, sctp_process_param() and sctp_process_asconf_param() extract the embedded address parameter and pass it to af->from_addr_param(), which uses the address parameter length to parse the variable-length address payload. A malformed peer can therefore advertise an embedded address parameter length that exceeds the remaining bytes in the enclosing parameter.
Validate that addr_param->p.length does not exceed the space available after the sctp_addip_param header before processing the embedded address parameter. Reject malformed parameters when the embedded address length extends beyond the enclosing parameter bounds.
This prevents out-of-bounds reads when parsing malformed parameters carried in INIT or ASCONF processing paths.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-74287?
How do I fix CVE-2026-74287?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.
Is CVE-2026-74287 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-74287 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-74287, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-74287, GHSA-gffv-4hwx-62gg, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-74287.