high CVSS 7.8

CVE-2021-46999·Kernel vulnerability

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sctp: do asoc update earlier in sctp_sf_do_dupcook_a There's a panic that occurs in a few of envs, the call trace is as below: [] general protection fault, ... 0x29acd70f1000a: 0000 [#1] SMP PTI [] RIP: 0010:sctp_ulpevent_notify_peer_addr_change+0x4b/0x1fa [sctp] [] sctp_assoc_control_transport+0x1b9/0x210 [sctp] [] sctp_do_8_2_transport_strike.isra.16+0x15c/0x220 [sctp] [] sctp_cmd_interpreter.isra.21+0x1231/0x1a10 [sctp] [] sctp_do_sm+0xc3/0x2a0 [sctp] [] sctp_generate_timeout_event+0x81/0xf0 [sctp] This is caused by a transport use-after-free issue. When processing a duplicate COOKIE-ECHO chunk in sctp_sf_do_dupcook_a(), both COOKIE-ACK and SHUTDOWN chunks are allocated with the transort from the new asoc. However, later in the sideeffect machine, the old asoc is used to send them out and old asoc's shutdown_last_sent_to is set to the transport that SHUTDOWN chunk attached to in sctp_cmd_setup_t2(), which actually belongs to the new asoc. After the new_asoc is freed and the old asoc T2 timeout, the old asoc's shutdown_last_sent_to that is already freed would be accessed in sctp_sf_t2_timer_expire(). Thanks Alexander and Jere for helping dig into this issue. To fix it, this patch is to do the asoc update first, then allocate the COOKIE-ACK and SHUTDOWN chunks with the 'updated' old asoc. This would make more sense, as a chunk from an asoc shouldn't be sent out with another asoc. We had fixed quite a few issues caused by this.

Severity
high
Software
Kernel
Fixed in
5.12.5
Published
2024-02-28

Affected versions

From: 5.12

Until: 5.12.5

Fixed in: 5.12.5

How to fix this CVE

Update your Linux kernel to version 5.12.5 or later to resolve a use-after-free vulnerability in SCTP's duplicate COOKIE-ECHO handling. This vulnerability can cause kernel panics and memory corruption when processing malformed SCTP packets. Apply the kernel update immediately and reboot your system to activate the patched version.

sudo dnf update kernel kernel-devel

Defensia detects this vulnerability

How to check if you are affected

  1. Step 1: Check current kernel version with `uname -r` and compare against 5.12.5 — versions 5.12.0 through 5.12.4 are vulnerable
  2. Step 2: Verify SCTP module is loaded with `lsmod | grep sctp` — if present, the vulnerable code path is active
  3. Step 3: Search kernel logs for SCTP-related crashes using `dmesg | grep -i 'sctp\|general protection fault'` to identify past exploitation attempts
  4. Step 4: After kernel update and reboot, confirm the patch with `uname -r` and verify no SCTP panic errors in `dmesg` during normal operation

FAQ

What is CVE-2021-46999?

CVE-2021-46999 is a use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's SCTP protocol handler. When processing duplicate COOKIE-ECHO chunks, the code incorrectly references transport objects from a freed association, leading to kernel panics and potential code execution.

Is CVE-2021-46999 being actively exploited?

No, this vulnerability is not listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog and has no public exploits available. However, the high CVSS score (7.8) means it should be patched promptly.

What versions of Kernel are affected by CVE-2021-46999?

Linux kernel versions 5.12.0 through 5.12.4 are vulnerable. Version 5.12.5 and later include the fix.

How do I check if my server is vulnerable to CVE-2021-46999?

Run `uname -r` to check your kernel version. If it reports 5.12.0 through 5.12.4, your system is vulnerable. Kernel versions outside the 5.12.x series are not affected by this specific issue.

Does Defensia detect CVE-2021-46999?

Yes — Defensia's CVE advisory scanner compares installed package versions against the NVD database. If Linux kernel is installed on a monitored server, CVE-2021-46999 will appear in your dashboard with remediation steps.

Related Kernel CVEs

CVE-2026-63994CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tunnels: load network headers after skb_cow() in iptunnel_pmtud_build_icmp[v6]() Sashiko found that iptunnel_pmtud_build_icmp() and iptunnel_pmtud_build_icmpv6() were caching ip_hdr() and ipv6_hdr() before an skb_cow() call which can reallocate skb->head. Fix this possible UAF by initializing the local variables after the skb_cow() call. Remove skb_reset_network_header() calls which were not needed.
CVE-2026-64025CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf, skmsg: fix verdict sk_data_ready racing with ktls rx sk_psock_strp_data_ready() already checks tls_sw_has_ctx_rx() and defers to psock->saved_data_ready when a TLS RX context is present, avoiding a conflict with the TLS strparser's ownership of the receive queue (commit e91de6afa81c, "bpf: Fix running sk_skb program types with ktls"). sk_psock_verdict_data_ready() has no equivalent guard. When a socket is inserted into a sockmap (BPF_SK_SKB_VERDICT) before TLS RX is configured, tls_sw_strparser_arm() saves sk_psock_verdict_data_ready as rx_ctx->saved_data_ready. On data arrival: tls_data_ready -> tls_strp_data_ready -> tls_rx_msg_ready -> saved_data_ready() = sk_psock_verdict_data_ready() -> tcp_read_skb() drains sk_receive_queue via __skb_unlink() without calling tcp_eat_skb(), so copied_seq is not advanced. tls_strp_msg_load() then finds tcp_inq() >= full_len (stale), calls tcp_recv_skb() on the now-empty queue, hits WARN_ON_ONCE(!first), and returns with rx_ctx->strp.anchor.frag_list pointing at a psock-owned (potentially freed) skb. tls_decrypt_sg() subsequently walks that frag_list: use-after-free. Apply the same fix as sk_psock_strp_data_ready(): if a TLS RX context is present, call psock->saved_data_ready (sock_def_readable) to wake recv() waiters and return immediately, leaving the receive queue untouched. TLS retains sole ownership of the queue and decrypts the record normally through tls_sw_recvmsg().
CVE-2026-100075CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: RDMA/srpt: Fix srpt_alloc_rw_ctxs() unwind counters When srpt_alloc_rw_ctxs() fails partway through a multi-buffer indirect descriptor, the unwind path destroys RDMA contexts but leaves stale n_rw_ctx and n_rdma values (and a dangling rw_ctxs pointer). Later sq_wr_avail accounting in srpt_queue_response() or srpt_write_pending() can then subtract the wrong number of send queue credits. Reset the counters and clear rw_ctxs after freeing the heap allocation before returning an error.
CVE-2026-64000CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: hsr: fix potential OOB access in supervision frame handling Ensure the entire TLV header is linearized before access by adding sizeof(struct hsr_sup_tlv) to the pskb_may_pull() calls. Without this, a truncated frame could cause an out-of-bounds access.
CVE-2026-64439CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: crypto: krb5 - filter out async aead implementations at alloc krb5_aead_encrypt(), krb5_aead_decrypt() in rfc3961_simplified.c and rfc8009_encrypt(), rfc8009_decrypt() in rfc8009_aes2.c set a NULL completion callback and treat any negative return from crypto_aead_{encrypt,decrypt}() as terminal, falling through to kfree_sensitive(buffer). When the encrypt_name resolves to an async AEAD instance the request returns -EINPROGRESS, the buffer is freed while the backend's worker still holds a pointer, and the worker dereferences the freed slab on completion. KASAN report under UML+SLUB with a synthetic async aead backend bound to krb5->encrypt_name: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in t5_stub_complete+0x7d/0xc7 The helpers were written synchronously, so filter the async instances out at allocation time instead of plumbing crypto_wait_req() through every call site. Reachable via net/rxrpc/rxgk.c, fs/afs/cm_security.c and net/ceph/crypto.c on systems with an async AEAD provider bound to the krb5 enctype name.

References

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