---
id: CVE-2026-72413
title: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  sctp: fix err_chunk memory leaks in INIT handling

  When sctp_verify_init() encounters unrecognized parameters, it allocates an
  err_chunk to report them
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  sctp: fix err_chunk memory leaks in INIT handling

  When sctp_verify_init() encounters unrecognized parameters, it allocates an
  err_chunk to report them. However, this c…
severity: none
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <
    6acedac7a14af71cfe25024ead28e16a070899e4
  - >-
    Linux >= 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <
    1cae40d423a2042c7970f29c00028951ec20db8a
  - >-
    Linux >= 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <
    94f55994e19e8f0676990b9d5015b58ab6a97e00
  - >-
    Linux >= 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <
    9f58a0a4d6c2ed5d341bba64f058f15d1b0c36f2
  - Linux 2.6.12
published: '2026-08-15'
updated: '2026-09-21'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-21T14:17:17.533'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72413'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1cae40d423a2042c7970f29c00028951ec20db8a'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6acedac7a14af71cfe25024ead28e16a070899e4'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/94f55994e19e8f0676990b9d5015b58ab6a97e00'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9f58a0a4d6c2ed5d341bba64f058f15d1b0c36f2'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00209
epssPercentile: 0.09831
ingestedAt: '2026-09-21T13:37:22.843Z'
---

## Overview

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

sctp: fix err_chunk memory leaks in INIT handling

When sctp_verify_init() encounters unrecognized parameters, it allocates an
err_chunk to report them. However, this chunk is leaked in several code
paths:

1. In sctp_sf_do_5_1B_init(), if security_sctp_assoc_request() fails after
   sctp_verify_init() has populated err_chunk, the function returns
   immediately without freeing it.

2. In sctp_sf_do_unexpected_init(), the same leak occurs on the
   security_sctp_assoc_request() failure path.

3. In sctp_sf_do_unexpected_init(), on the success path after copying
   unrecognized parameters to the INIT-ACK, the function returns without
   freeing err_chunk, unlike sctp_sf_do_5_1B_init() which properly frees
   it.

Fix all three leaks by adding sctp_chunk_free(err_chunk) calls before
returning in the error paths and on the success path in
sctp_sf_do_unexpected_init().

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.