Vulnerability record · CVE-2026-74688 · published 22 August 2026
CVE-2026-74688: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sctp: clear control chunk transport if it…
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sctp: clear control chunk transport if it is being removed sctp_make_heartbeat_ack() caches the destination transport in chunk->transport without taking a reference. When src_out_of_asoc_ok is enabled, the HEARTBEAT ACK may remain queued on control_chunk_list instead of being transmitted immediately. If the peer transport is removed while the chunk is still queued, sctp_assoc_rm_peer() drops the transport and schedules it for RCU freeing, but only clears cached transport pointers in out_chunk_list. The queued control chunk therefore retains a dangling transport pointer. Once an ASCONF_ACK clears the suppression and the queued control chunk is transmitted, SCTP dereferences the stale transport pointer, leading to a use-after-free. Fix this by also clearing chunk->transport for queued control chunks in control_chunk_list when removing the transport.
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sctp: clear control chunk transport if it is being removed sctp_make_heartbeat_ack() caches the destination transport in chunk->transport without taking a reference. When src_out_of_asoc_ok is enabled, the HEARTBEAT ACK may remain queued on control_chunk_list instead of being transmitted immediately. If the peer transport is removed while the chunk is still queued, sctp_assoc_rm_peer() drops the transport and schedules it for RCU freeing, but only clears cached transport pointers in out_chunk_list. The queued control chunk therefore retains a dangling transport pointer. Once an ASCONF_ACK clears the suppression and the queued control chunk is transmitted, SCTP dereferences the stale transport pointer, leading to a use-after-free. Fix this by also clearing chunk->transport for queued control chunks in control_chunk_list when removing the transport.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
References
Track CVE-2026-74688 inside VULONE
Watch it alongside the ransomware crews, C2 infrastructure and forum chatter that reference it, query it through the API and pull it into your SIEM over TAXII.
Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2026-74688), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-26). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.