CVE-2024-50299

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2024-50299?

CVE-2024-50299 has a CVSS score of 5.5 (MEDIUM). A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's SCTP protocol implementation allows attackers to cause a kernel crash (denial of service) by sending specially crafted network packets. This affects any system running a vulnerable Linux kernel version with SCTP enabled. The vulnerability occurs due to insufficient validation of chunk sizes in the sctp_sf_ootb() function.

5.5 MEDIUM

Denial of Service

📋 TL;DR

A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's SCTP protocol implementation allows attackers to cause a kernel crash (denial of service) by sending specially crafted network packets. This affects any system running a vulnerable Linux kernel version with SCTP enabled. The vulnerability occurs due to insufficient validation of chunk sizes in the sctp_sf_ootb() function.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Linux kernel

Versions: Specific vulnerable versions not explicitly stated in CVE, but references indicate fixes in stable kernel trees. Likely affects multiple kernel versions before the fix commits.

Operating Systems: Linux distributions using vulnerable kernel versions

Default Config Vulnerable: ✅ No

Notes: Only vulnerable if SCTP protocol support is enabled in the kernel (CONFIG_IP_SCTP). Many distributions don't enable SCTP by default.

📦 What is this software?

Linux Kernel by Linux

The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...

Learn more about Linux Kernel →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Kernel panic leading to complete system crash and denial of service, requiring physical or remote console access to reboot.

🟠

Likely Case

System crash requiring reboot, causing service disruption and potential data loss for active connections.

🟢

If Mitigated

No impact if SCTP is disabled or proper network filtering prevents malicious packets from reaching vulnerable systems.

🌐 Internet-Facing: MEDIUM - Systems with SCTP exposed to untrusted networks are vulnerable, but SCTP is less commonly used than TCP/UDP.

🏢 Internal Only: LOW - Internal systems with SCTP enabled could be targeted by compromised internal hosts, but attack surface is limited.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: LOW - Requires sending specially crafted SCTP packets to vulnerable systems.

Reported by syzbot fuzzer, indicating the vulnerability is triggerable with crafted input. No public exploit code identified.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: Kernel versions containing commits: 0ead60804b64f5bd6999eec88e503c6a1a242d41, 40b283ba76665437bc2ac72079c51b57b25bff9e, 67b9a278b80f71ec62091ded97c6bcbea33b5ec3, 8820d2d6589f62ee5514793fff9b50c9f8101182, 9b5d42aeaf1a52f73b003a33da6deef7df34685f

Vendor Advisory: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0ead60804b64f5bd6999eec88e503c6a1a242d41

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Update Linux kernel to patched version from your distribution vendor
2. Reboot system to load new kernel
3. Verify kernel version after reboot

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable SCTP kernel module

linux

Prevent loading of SCTP kernel module if not required

echo 'install sctp /bin/true' >> /etc/modprobe.d/disable-sctp.conf
rmmod sctp

Block SCTP traffic at firewall

linux

Prevent SCTP packets from reaching vulnerable systems

iptables -A INPUT -p sctp -j DROP
iptables -A FORWARD -p sctp -j DROP

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Disable SCTP protocol support in kernel configuration and reboot
Implement network filtering to block all SCTP traffic to vulnerable systems

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check if SCTP module is loaded: lsmod | grep sctp AND check kernel version against patched versions

Check Version:

uname -r

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify kernel version includes one of the fix commits AND SCTP functionality still works if required

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Kernel panic messages in /var/log/messages or dmesg
System crash/reboot events
SCTP protocol errors in network logs

Network Indicators:

Unusual SCTP traffic patterns
SCTP packets with malformed chunk sizes

SIEM Query:

source="kernel" AND ("panic" OR "Oops" OR "BUG") AND "sctp"

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2024-50299

CVSS v3 Score: 5.5 (MEDIUM)

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CWE: CWE-908

Published: November 19, 2024

Last Updated: November 3, 2025

📋 TL;DR

💻 Affected Systems

📦 What is this software?

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

Worst Case

Likely Case

If Mitigated

🎯 Exploit Status

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Instructions:

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable SCTP kernel module

Block SCTP traffic at firewall

🧯 If You Can't Patch

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check Version:

Verify Fix Applied:

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Network Indicators:

SIEM Query:

📊 Metadata

🔗 References

📤 Share & Export

🔗 Related Vulnerabilities