Race Condition in Linux Kernel Affecting SCTP Socket Operations

CVE-2026-63971

What is CVE-2026-63971?

This vulnerability in the Linux kernel affects the SCTP (Stream Control Transmission Protocol) by introducing a race condition during the socket connection process. When a socket is waiting to establish an association, the function sctp_wait_for_connect() temporarily drops the socket lock. During this interval, another thread could peel off the association to a new socket, potentially altering the association’s state without the first thread being aware of the change. Once the original socket lock is reacquired, the function may erroneously return a success status without recognizing that the association has migrated to a new socket. This oversight may lead to incorrect access of socket data, resulting in unstable behavior or potential data corruption. The fix includes additional checks to ensure that the association has not been altered during the waiting period.

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