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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2008-4576

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v2.0 Published 2008-10-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.6.25.17 or later.
See remediation →
87/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
sctp in Linux kernel before 2.6.25.18 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (OOPS) via an INIT-ACK that states the peer does not support AUTH, which causes the sctp_process_init function to clean up active transports and triggers the OOPS when the T1-Init timer expires.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The SCTP (Stream Control Transmission Protocol) implementation in Linux kernels prior to 2.6.25.18 contains a denial of service vulnerability. When a remote attacker sends a malicious INIT-ACK message claiming the peer does not support AUTH, the sctp_process_init function improperly cleans up active transports, causing a kernel OOPS when the T1-Init timer subsequently expires.

MitigationApply the upstream kernel patch or upgrade to Linux kernel 2.6.25.18 or later. As a compensating control, disable SCTP protocol support in the kernel if not required, or restrict network exposure of SCTP endpoints.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:<= 2.6.25.17= 2.2.27= 2.4.36= 2.4.36.1= 2.4.36.2= 2.4.36.3= 2.4.36.4= 2.4.36.5= 2.4.36.6= 2.6= 2.6.18= 2.6.19.4

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Determine the running kernel version
    Run `uname -r` or `cat /proc/version` to obtain the kernel version string
    Affected if The kernel version is <= 2.6.25.17, or exactly matches 2.2.27, 2.4.36.x (any patchlevel), 2.6, 2.6.18, or 2.6.19.4 from the affected list
  2. Verify if SCTP support is enabled in the kernel
    Check for the SCTP module with `lsmod | grep sctp` or check kernel config at `/boot/config-$(uname -r)` for CONFIG_IP_SCTP=m or CONFIG_IP_SCTP=y
    Affected if SCTP is loaded as a module or compiled into the kernel (CONFIG_IP_SCTP is set)
  3. Detect active SCTP endpoints on the system
    Run `ss -s` or examine `/proc/net/sctp/eps` to list active SCTP endpoints, or use `netstat -an | grep sctp` to find listening SCTP ports
    Affected if Any SCTP endpoints are listening or established - the system is actively using SCTP protocol

The system is affected only if it runs a vulnerable kernel version from the affected list AND has SCTP protocol support enabled and in use.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2.6.25.17
Interim mitigation

Apply the upstream kernel patch or upgrade to Linux kernel 2.6.25.18 or later. As a compensating control, disable SCTP protocol support in the kernel if not required, or restrict network exposure of SCTP endpoints.

Fix this in Linux Kernel Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,080
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2008-4576 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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