CVE-2026-72398

CRITICALPre-NVD 9.89.8
EchelonGraph scoreHIGH confidence

Score 9.8 from GitHub Security Advisory (severity: CRITICAL) published 2026-08-15. a secondary CVSS source baseline 9.8; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: epss, ghsa, secondary
Trending — 5 sources updated this week
9.8EG
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixSerious severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet.
  • High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 1%CVSS: 9.8Exploit: None knownExposed: 0

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

sctp: add INIT verification after cookie unpacking

In SCTP handshake, the INIT chunk is initially processed by the server and embedded into the cookie carried in INIT-ACK. The client then returns this cookie via COOKIE-ECHO, where the server unpacks it and reconstructs the original INIT chunk.

When cookie authentication is enabled, the cookie contents are protected against tampering, so reusing the unpacked INIT without re-verification is safe.

However, when cookie authentication is disabled, the reconstructed INIT can no longer be trusted. In this case, the INIT must be explicitly validated after unpacking to avoid processing potentially tampered data.

Add sctp_verify_init() checks after cookie unpacking in COOKIE-ECHO processing paths (sctp_sf_do_5_1D_ce() and sctp_sf_do_5_2_4_dupcook()) when cookie_auth_enable is disabled. On failure, the new association is freed and the packet is discarded.

Also tighten cookie validation in sctp_unpack_cookie() by verifying the embedded chunk type is SCTP_CID_INIT before treating it as an INIT chunk.

Finally, update sctp_verify_init() to validate parameter bounds using the actual embedded INIT length instead of chunk->chunk_end, since the INIT stored in COOKIE-ECHO may not span the entire chunk buffer.

CVSS v3
9.8
EG Score
9.8(high)
EG Risk
49(Track)
EG Risk 49/100SSVC: Track

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity98% × 45%
Exploitation1% × 40%
Automatability30% × 15%
Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence.
EPSS PROB
1%
EPSS %ILE
51%
KEV
Not listed

Published

August 15, 2026

Last Modified

August 17, 2026

Advisory Details (3)

Auto-updated Aug 17, 2026
No patch confirmed yet.
generic

sctp: add INIT verification after cookie unpacking - kernel/git/stable/linux.git - Linux kernel stable tree

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bca3100f550281c2f2418652338bced3b35af0e6
generic

sctp: add INIT verification after cookie unpacking - kernel/git/stable/linux.git - Linux kernel stable tree

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/414c5447fe6a200613dd46d7fdc8454622076cb1
generic

sctp: add INIT verification after cookie unpacking - kernel/git/stable/linux.git - Linux kernel stable tree

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/062bcbf8d1f1051fdeb20b94920031b0e2cb95a2

Vendor Advisories for CVE-2026-72398(1)

These vendors published their own advisory mentioning this CVE — often with vendor-specific remediation steps + affected product lists not in NVD.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 48× in last 7d / 48× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

  1. 2026-08-21 05:34 UTCGHSA enrichment
  2. 2026-08-21 01:27 UTCEG score recompute
  3. 2026-08-21 01:27 UTCGHSA enrichment
  4. 2026-08-20 22:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-08-20 21:21 UTCGHSA enrichment
  6. 2026-08-20 17:14 UTCGHSA enrichment
  7. 2026-08-20 13:05 UTCGHSA enrichment
  8. 2026-08-20 08:49 UTCGHSA enrichment
  9. 2026-08-20 04:43 UTCGHSA enrichment
  10. 2026-08-20 00:36 UTCGHSA enrichment
  11. 2026-08-19 20:29 UTCEG score recompute
  12. 2026-08-19 20:29 UTCGHSA enrichment
  13. 2026-08-19 17:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-08-19 16:22 UTCGHSA enrichment
  15. 2026-08-19 12:15 UTCGHSA enrichment
  16. 2026-08-19 08:08 UTCGHSA enrichment
  17. 2026-08-19 04:02 UTCGHSA enrichment
  18. 2026-08-18 23:53 UTCGHSA enrichment
  19. 2026-08-18 19:45 UTCGHSA enrichment
  20. 2026-08-18 15:36 UTCEG score recompute
  21. 2026-08-18 15:36 UTCGHSA enrichment
  22. 2026-08-18 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-08-18 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-08-18 11:30 UTCGHSA enrichment
  25. 2026-08-18 07:23 UTCGHSA enrichment
Show 23 more
  1. 2026-08-18 03:16 UTCGHSA enrichment
  2. 2026-08-17 23:08 UTCGHSA enrichment
  3. 2026-08-17 18:59 UTCGHSA enrichment
  4. 2026-08-17 14:42 UTCEG score recompute
  5. 2026-08-17 14:42 UTCGHSA enrichment
  6. 2026-08-17 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-08-17 10:35 UTCEG score recompute
  8. 2026-08-17 10:35 UTCGHSA enrichment
  9. 2026-08-17 06:29 UTCEG score recompute
  10. 2026-08-17 06:29 UTCGHSA enrichment
  11. 2026-08-17 05:57 UTCEG score recompute 9.80
  12. 2026-08-17 05:57 UTCGHSA enrichment
  13. 2026-08-17 05:54 UTCMITRE cvelistV5CVSS v3 → 9.8 · severity → CRITICAL
  14. 2026-08-17 05:29 UTCEG score recompute
  15. 2026-08-17 05:29 UTCGHSA enrichment
  16. 2026-08-17 05:25 UTCMITRE cvelistV5
  17. 2026-08-16 14:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-08-16 14:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-08-16 02:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-08-15 06:34 UTCGHSA enrichment
  21. 2026-08-15 06:23 UTCNVD update
  22. 2026-08-15 06:05 UTCEG score recompute
  23. 2026-08-15 06:02 UTCMITRE cvelistV5first tracked

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2026-72398?
CVE-2026-72398 is a critical vulnerability published on August 15, 2026. In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sctp: add INIT verification after cookie unpacking In SCTP handshake, the INIT chunk is initially processed by the server and embedded into the cookie carried in INIT-ACK. The client then returns this cookie via COOKIE-ECHO, where…
When was CVE-2026-72398 disclosed?
CVE-2026-72398 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on August 15, 2026, with the most recent update on August 17, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2026-72398 actively exploited?
CVE-2026-72398 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 1% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the top 49.5% of all scored CVEs.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-72398?
CVE-2026-72398 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2026-72398?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2026-72398, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

Dependency Blast Radius

Explore the affected products and dependency analysis for CVE-2026-72398

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