Linux vulnerability

What happened

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sctp: fix err_chunk memory leaks in INIT handling When sctp_verify_init() encounters unrecognized parameters, it allocates an err_chunk to report them. However, this chunk is leaked in several code paths: 1. In sctp_sf_do_5_1B_init(), if security_sctp_assoc_request() fails after sctp_verify_init() has populated err_chunk, the function returns immediately without freeing it. 2. In sctp_sf_do_unexpected_init(), the same leak occurs on the security_sctp_assoc_request() failure path. 3. In sctp_sf_do_unexpected_init(), on the success path after copying unrecognized parameters to the INIT-ACK, the function returns without freeing err_chunk, unlike sctp_sf_do_5_1B_init() which properly frees it. Fix all three leaks by adding sctp_chunk_free(err_chunk) calls before returning in the error paths and on the success path in sctp_sf_do_unexpected_init().

Affected versions

Linux: 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 through before a8e6a839c0e7ca1da752faaab51e2eafb17483a4 (git); 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 through before 43ddbcdc0ed74a8fba4aff5e623ace8135411b93 (git); 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 through before 6acedac7a14af71cfe25024ead28e16a070899e4 (git); 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 through before 1cae40d423a2042c7970f29c00028951ec20db8a (git); 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 through before 94f55994e19e8f0676990b9d5015b58ab6a97e00 (git); 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 through before 9f58a0a4d6c2ed5d341bba64f058f15d1b0c36f2 (git); 2.6.12 Fixed: See vendor advisory.

Why it matters

Review the vendor advisory and exposure of the affected product to determine operational impact.

Detection & mitigation

• Apply vendor-provided updates or mitigations.
• Review affected product exposure and access logs.