Linux Kernel up to 6.12.112/6.18.55/7.2.9/7.3-rc5 SCTP sctp_sendmsg_to_asoc use after free

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
9.5	$5k-$25k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.112/6.18.55/7.2.9/7.3-rc5. It has been classified as very critical. The affected element is the function sctp_sendmsg_to_asoc of the component SCTP. This manipulation causes use after free. This vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2026-98846. The attack is possible to be carried out remotely. No exploit exists. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as very critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.112/6.18.55/7.2.9/7.3-rc5. Affected by this vulnerability is the function sctp_sendmsg_to_asoc of the component SCTP. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sctp: check RCV_SHUTDOWN after the sendmsg connect wait sctp_wait_for_connect() drops the socket lock while it sleeps. An out-of-the-blue ABORT can then be processed from the socket backlog and unlink the association. If a concurrent shutdown(fd, SHUT_RD) sets RCV_SHUTDOWN, the waiter breaks with err == 0 before checking asoc->base.dead. Its final sctp_association_put() can then free the association, leaving sctp_sendmsg_to_asoc() to continue with a dangling pointer. Check RCV_SHUTDOWN along with the wait error in sctp_sendmsg_to_asoc() before using the association again. The check only accesses the socket, so it needs no additional association reference. Return the existing -ESRCH so that sctp_sendmsg() skips freeing a new association that may already have been destroyed. Keep sctp_wait_for_connect() unchanged to preserve its behavior for the connect() caller.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-98846 since 09/25/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be launched remotely. The exploitation doesn't need any form of authentication. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 10/18/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.12.113, 6.18.56, 7.2.10 or 7.3-rc6 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch e8f972b1759d26bbefe4c524caae1ed7c8a593bd/e701345d886e831fb593a0870d69c8c5de6fc938/222c41e0f50f1d5028be9baf0e1dcfc0bfa7f669/4f1da630d13de0370e2f6361f961f1c8b384af1c is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.12.112
• 6.18.0
• 6.18.1
• 6.18.2
• 6.18.3
• 6.18.4
• 6.18.5
• 6.18.6
• 6.18.7
• 6.18.8
• 6.18.9
• 6.18.10
• 6.18.11
• 6.18.12
• 6.18.13
• 6.18.14
• 6.18.15
• 6.18.16
• 6.18.17
• 6.18.18
• 6.18.19
• 6.18.20
• 6.18.21
• 6.18.22
• 6.18.23
• 6.18.24
• 6.18.25
• 6.18.26
• 6.18.27
• 6.18.28
• 6.18.29
• 6.18.30
• 6.18.31
• 6.18.32
• 6.18.33
• 6.18.34
• 6.18.35
• 6.18.36
• 6.18.37
• 6.18.38
• 6.18.39
• 6.18.40
• 6.18.41
• 6.18.42
• 6.18.43
• 6.18.44
• 6.18.45
• 6.18.46
• 6.18.47
• 6.18.48
• 6.18.49
• 6.18.50
• 6.18.51
• 6.18.52
• 6.18.53
• 6.18.54
• 6.18.55
• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.3
• 7.2.4
• 7.2.5
• 7.2.6
• 7.2.7
• 7.2.8
• 7.2.9
• 7.3-rc1
• 7.3-rc2
• 7.3-rc3
• 7.3-rc4
• 7.3-rc5

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 10.0
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 9.5

VulDB Base Score: 10.0
VulDB Temp Score: 9.5
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Use after free
CWE: CWE-416 / CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined
Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 6.12.113/6.18.56/7.2.10/7.3-rc6
Patch: e8f972b1759d26bbefe4c524caae1ed7c8a593bd/e701345d886e831fb593a0870d69c8c5de6fc938/222c41e0f50f1d5028be9baf0e1dcfc0bfa7f669/4f1da630d13de0370e2f6361f961f1c8b384af1c

Timelineinfo

09/25/2026 CVE reserved
10/18/2026 +23 days Advisory disclosed
10/18/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
10/18/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-98846 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-98846
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-421867

Entryinfo

Created: 10/18/2026 18:38
Changes: 10/18/2026 18:38 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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