Bug 2516417 (CVE-2026-72242)

Summary: CVE-2026-72242 kernel: selinux: avoid sk_socket dereference in selinux_sctp_bind_connect()
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
Severity: medium Docs Contact:
Priority: medium    
Version: unspecifiedCC: rhel-process-autobot, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
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Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's SELinux module. When handling Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) connections, a specific function attempts to access a network socket that may not exist. This can lead to a system crash, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS) for affected systems.
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-08-15 06:11:24 UTC 
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

selinux: avoid sk_socket dereference in selinux_sctp_bind_connect()

selinux_sctp_bind_connect() dereferences sk->sk_socket to pass a
struct socket * to selinux_socket_bind() and
selinux_socket_connect_helper().  However, when the hook is invoked
from the ASCONF softirq path (sctp_process_asconf), there is no file
reference guaranteeing that sk->sk_socket is non-NULL.  The setsockopt
callers (bindx, connectx, set_primary, sendmsg connect) hold a file
reference and are not affected.

Both selinux_socket_bind() and selinux_socket_connect_helper()
immediately resolve sock->sk, never using the struct socket * for
anything else.  Refactor the inner logic into helpers that take a
struct sock * directly so that selinux_sctp_bind_connect() never needs
to touch sk->sk_socket at all.
Comment 1 gkamathe 2026-08-18 09:35:31 UTC 
Upstream advisory:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2026081551-CVE-2026-72242-a448@gregkh/T