7.5

CVE-2026-18798

QUIC Server May Trigger Double Free When Processing INITIAL Packet

Issue summary: QUIC server may double free QRX (QUIC record layer RX) object
when channel creation fails for initial packet.

Impact summary: Double free leads to heap corruption, which typically results in 
termination of QUIC server process, leading to Denial of Service. There is so
far no evidence that this double free is exploitable for remote code execution,
thus it is considered highly improbable.

CWE: CWE-415: Double Free

Description: In order to validate initial packet, OpenSSL QUIC stack default
packet handler (port_default_packet_handler()) creates a so-called QRX object.
If the initial packet validates successfully with QRX object, the default packet
handler proceeds to channel (connection object) creation. The QRX object used
for packet validation is passed to port_bind_channel(), so it becomes part of
the newly created connection. If port_bind_channel() fails, then it also frees
the QRX object. Once port_bind_channel() returns, the port_default_packet_handler()
detects the failure and proceeds to the error branch, where the same QRX object is
freed for the second time.

The failure in port_bind_channel() function can be induced with a relatively
low effort by a malformed (non RFC 9000 compliant) INITIAL packet. If the packet
carries DCID (destination connection ID) which is shorter than 8 bytes, then
port_bind_channel() jumps to the error path after ossl_quic_lcidm_enrol_odcid()
detects that the DCID has invalid length.

FIPS impact: no
The FIPS module is not affected, as the QUIC implementation is outside of
the OpenSSL FIPS module boundary.
Daten sind bereitgestellt durch National Vulnerability Database (NVD)
OpenSSL ≫ OpenSSL Version >= 3.5.0 < 3.5.8
OpenSSL ≫ OpenSSL Version >= 3.6.0 < 3.6.4
OpenSSL ≫ OpenSSL Version >= 4.0.0 < 4.0.2
VulnDex Vulnerability Enrichment
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Zu dieser CVE wurde keine Warnung gefunden.
EPSS Metriken
Typ Quelle Score Percentile
EPSS FIRST.org 1.48% 0.72
CVSS Metriken
Quelle Base Score Exploit Score Impact Score Vector String
CISA-ADP 7.5 3.9 3.6
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CWE-415 Double Free

The product calls free() twice on the same memory address.

https://openssl-library.org/news/secadv/20260825.txt
Vendor Advisory
https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/70cebd74d3592f5272945501b58a60374c4e13af
Patch
https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/967582d5037f01a26b6d19beae19af62a1b15c3c
Patch
https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/a14a1deac403522fbeafabcb198503cf6caa7dc4
Patch