CVE-2026-98614
Description
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) subsystem. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) by triggering an infinite loop during retransmission path selection. When all candidate network paths are in an unconfirmed state, the kernel fails to recognize the completion of its search loop, resulting in system livelock and CPU starvation.
Statement
This vulnerability is rated as Important because an unauthenticated actor can induce a kernel livelock and severe CPU exhaustion, rendering the host unresponsive without requiring elevated privileges. In standard Red Hat Enterprise Linux deployments, the SCTP kernel module is not loaded by default and requires explicit configuration or an active SCTP-enabled application to be exposed. The risk is primarily confined to environments that actively deploy SCTP networking services or allow untrusted local users to initialize SCTP sockets.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 7.5 | N/A | N/A |
| Attack Vector | Network | N/A | N/A |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | N/A |
| Privileges Required | None | N/A | N/A |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | N/A |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | N/A |
| Confidentiality | None | N/A | N/A |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | N/A |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | N/A |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
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