CVE-2026-34183
Unbounded Memory Growth in the QUIC PATH_CHALLENGE Handler
- State
- Published
- Severity
- 7.5 High
- Published
- Jun 9, 2026
- Updated
- Jun 10, 2026
- Reserved
- Mar 26, 2026
Description
Issue summary: Remote peer may exhaust heap memory of the QUIC server or client by flooding it with packets containing PATH_CHALLENGE frames.
Impact summary: A malicious remote peer can cause an unbounded memory allocation which can lead to an abnormal termination of the application acting as a QUIC client or server and a Denial of Service.
A remote peer may exhaust heap memory by flooding the local QUIC stack with PATH_CHALLENGE frames. The local QUIC stack allocates a PATH_RESPONSE frame for every PATH_CHALLENGE it receives. The allocated PATH_RESPONSE frame gets freed only when the remote peer acknowledges reception of the PATH_RESPONSE frame which will not be done by a malicious peer.
The FIPS modules in 4.0, 3.6, 3.5, 3.4, and 3.0 are not affected by this issue. The QUIC stack is outside of OpenSSL FIPS module boundary.
Scores
| CVSS | Score | Vector | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | 7.5 High | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H | CISA-ADP |
Weaknesses
- CWE-1325 Improperly Controlled Sequential Memory Allocation
Affected Products
| Product | Versions |
|---|---|
OpenSSLOpenSSL |
|
References
- OpenSSL Advisoryvendor-advisory
- 4.0.1 git commitpatch
- 3.6.3 git commitpatch
- 3.5.7 git commitpatch
- 3.4.6 git commitpatch
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