Linux Kernel up to 7.0.9 sctp udp_tunnel_xmit_skb recursion

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 7.0.9. The impacted element is the function udp_tunnel_xmit_skb of the component sctp. Performing a manipulation results in recursion. This vulnerability is cataloged as CVE-2026-53070. There is no exploit available. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.0.9. It has been classified as critical. This affects the function udp_tunnel_xmit_skb of the component sctp. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a recursion vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-674. The product does not properly control the amount of recursion that takes place, consuming excessive resources, such as allocated memory or the program stack. The impact remains unknown. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sctp: disable BH before calling udp_tunnel_xmit_skb() udp_tunnel_xmit_skb() / udp_tunnel6_xmit_skb() are expected to run with BH disabled. After commit 6f1a9140ecda ("add xmit recursion limit to tunnel xmit functions"), on the path: udp(6)_tunnel_xmit_skb() -> ip(6)tunnel_xmit() dev_xmit_recursion_inc()/dec() must stay balanced on the same CPU. Without local_bh_disable(), the context may move between CPUs, which can break the inc/dec pairing. This may lead to incorrect recursion level detection and cause packets to be dropped in ip(6)_tunnel_xmit() or __dev_queue_xmit(). Fix it by disabling BH around both IPv4 and IPv6 SCTP UDP xmit paths. In my testing, after enabling the SCTP over UDP: # ip net exec ha sysctl -w net.sctp.udp_port=9899 # ip net exec ha sysctl -w net.sctp.encap_port=9899 # ip net exec hb sysctl -w net.sctp.udp_port=9899 # ip net exec hb sysctl -w net.sctp.encap_port=9899 # ip net exec ha iperf3 -s - without this patch: # ip net exec hb iperf3 -c 192.168.0.1 --sctp [ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 37.2 MBytes 31.2 Mbits/sec sender [ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 37.1 MBytes 31.1 Mbits/sec receiver - with this patch: # ip net exec hb iperf3 -c 192.168.0.1 --sctp [ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 3.14 GBytes 2.69 Gbits/sec sender [ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 3.14 GBytes 2.69 Gbits/sec receiver

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-53070 since 06/09/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 325146 (Debian dsa-6381 : ata-modules-6.12.90+deb13-armmp-di - security update), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 7.0.10 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 790093245e35040c2adb15f48970020425aa3f47/2cd7e6971fc2787408ceef17906ea152791448cf is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (325146), EUVD (EUVD-2026-38938) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-2077). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Open Source Linux Kernel

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 7.0.0
• 7.0.1
• 7.0.2
• 7.0.3
• 7.0.4
• 7.0.5
• 7.0.6
• 7.0.7
• 7.0.8
• 7.0.9

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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