illumos-gate: Heap-based Buffer Overflow
CVE-2026-15422 is a critical-severity heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in illumos-gate from Illumos, with a CVSS 4.0 base score of 9.1 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. The record lists version 53a3efdeff8e6745bbfb69c5360f94962fb79e75 as the first without the flaw, so updating illumos-gate to that release or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.88% chance of exploitation within 30 days, higher than 60% of scored CVEs.
Critical severity: a successful attack would have severe impact.
What to do
- Update illumos-gate to 53a3efdeff8e6745bbfb69c5360f94962fb79e75 or a later version.
- Update OmniOS to r151058j or r151056aj or r151054bj or r151054, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
- Update SmartOS to 202060709 or a later version.
- Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illumos | illumos-gate | a5407c02d5ed61b29481b9b71f1307d7ebec9e5c up to, but not including, 53a3efdeff8e6745bbfb69c5360f94962fb79e75 | 53a3efdeff8e6745bbfb69c5360f94962fb79e75 |
| OmniOS | OmniOS | r151058 up to, but not including, r151058j; r151056 up to, but not including, r151056aj; r151054 up to, but not including, r151054bj; any up to, but not including, r151054 | r151058j, r151056aj, r151054bj, r151054 |
| Triton Data Center | SmartOS | any up to, but not including, 202060709 | 202060709 |
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Attack requirements
- NoneThe attack does not depend on a particular deployment or configuration.
- Privileges required
- NoneNo account or login is needed.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Confidentiality (vulnerable system)
- HighSerious loss of confidentiality on the vulnerable system.
- Integrity (vulnerable system)
- HighSerious loss of integrity on the vulnerable system.
- Availability (vulnerable system)
- HighSerious loss of availability on the vulnerable system.
- Confidentiality (other systems)
- HighSerious loss of confidentiality on systems beyond the vulnerable one.
- Integrity (other systems)
- HighSerious loss of integrity on systems beyond the vulnerable one.
- Availability (other systems)
- HighSerious loss of availability on systems beyond the vulnerable one.
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:U/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:P/AU:Y/R:U/V:C/RE:H/U:Red. Scored by CNA.
Official description
The illumos SCTP inbound path performs association lookup for INIT ACK chunks without adequately validating the address parameters carried in the chunk. Since this lookup runs during packet classification (i.e. before SCTP integrity checks or IPsec policy are applied) a remote, unauthenticated attacker can send a crafted SCTP INIT ACK packet with malformed address parameters to cause an out-of-bounds access and kernel heap corruption, which may lead to remote code execution. The flaw has existed since 2010 (illumos-gate commit a5407c02), and affects any illumos distribution prior to illumos-gate commit 53a3efde.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Heap-based Buffer Overflow
The product writes past the end of a buffer that was allocated on the heap.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Pre-design: Use a language or compiler that performs automatic bounds checking.
- Use an abstraction library to abstract away risky APIs. Not a complete solution.
- Use automatic buffer overflow detection mechanisms that are offered by certain compilers or compiler extensions. Examples include: the Microsoft Visual Studio /GS flag, Fedora/Red Hat FORTIFY_SOURCE GCC flag, StackGuard, and ProPolice, which provide various mechanisms including canary-based detection and range/index checking. D3-SFCV (Stack Frame Canary Validation) from D3FEND discusses canary-based detection in detail.
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: yes, technical impact: total).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Patches and release notes
Other references
Other vulnerabilities in illumos-gate
- 7.8 High severity
Recent Heap-based Buffer Overflow vulnerabilities
- 8.1 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
Spotted an error? Tell us.