CVE-2026-89477 sctp: fix NULL deref on untransmitted RECONF completion
An attacker can cause a kernel panic via a null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel SCTP implementation by sending crafted stream reconfiguration requests.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-89477?
CVE-2026-89477 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, published on 11 Sep 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: fix NULL deref on untransmitted RECONF completion
sctp_process_strreset_outreq(), sctp_process_strreset_addstrm_out() and sctp_process_strreset_resp() complete a pending stream reconfiguration request by stopping the reconf timer on the transport it was sent on:
t = asoc->strreset_chunk->transport; if (timer_delete(&t->reconf_timer)) sctp_transport_put(t);
chunk->transport is assigned by __sctp_packet_append_chunk() when the chunk is appended to an outbound packet, and sctp_outq_flush_ctrl() arms the reconf timer at that same point. A request already published in asoc->strreset_chunk but not yet transmitted has neither, so completing it dereferences NULL.
Two ways to get there. sctp_send_asconf_del_ip() sets asoc->src_out_of_asoc_ok without sending anything when the address being removed is the association's last one, and sctp_outq_flush_ctrl() then leaves every non-ASCONF control chunk queued; as only sctp_process_asconf_ack() clears that flag, it persists. An unprivileged process that removes such an address and then asks for a stream reset panics the kernel from softirq. A peer needs neither ASCONF nor local help: sctp_cmd_interpreter() uncorks the outqueue only once the whole packet has been processed, so a reply built while walking a RECONF chunk stays untransmitted for the rest of that walk, and one RECONF chunk carrying [Incoming SSN Reset Request, Outgoing SSN Reset Request, Response] -- or two RECONF chunks in one packet -- reaches the same dereference.
KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x00000000000001e8-0x00000000000001ef] RIP: 0010:timer_delete+0x67/0x110 Call Trace: <IRQ> sctp_process_strreset_addstrm_out (net/sctp/stream.c:832) sctp_sf_do_reconf (net/sctp/sm_statefuns.c:4212) sctp_do_sm (net/sctp/sm_sideeffect.c:1172) sctp_assoc_bh_rcv (net/sctp/associola.c:1044) sctp_rcv (net/sctp/input.c:243) ip_local_deliver (net/ipv4/ip_input.c:262) process_backlog (net/core/dev.c:6680) </IRQ>
A response can only acknowledge a request that was actually sent, so do not match asoc->strreset_chunk while chunk->transport is NULL. Guarding the lookup covers all three completion sites.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-89477?
How do I fix CVE-2026-89477?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2026-89477 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-89477 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-100256, BELL-CVE-2026-89477, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-89477, GHSA-h62f-42cp-xr87, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-89477.