CVE-2026-63075

Summary

Issue summary: When OpenSSL processes QUIC traffic from a peer that repeatedly sends ack-eliciting packets while not acknowledging ACK-only responses, the QUIC stack can retain ACK-only packet metadata for the lifetime of the connection.

Impact summary: A remote peer that can complete a QUIC handshake can cause connection-scoped memory growth which may lead to Denial of Service through memory exhaustion, especially with sustained traffic or many concurrent QUIC connections.

CWE: CWE-770: Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling

Description: When the OpenSSL QUIC stack sends an ACK-only packet, there is no requirement by the QUIC protocol that the peer will acknowledge that ACK-only packet (i.e. it is itself not ack-eliciting). However, the OpenSSL implementation stores the metadata about the ACK frames regardless. In and of itself that's ok, but if a malicious peer establishes a connection, and then drives the connection such that ACK-only packets are forced from the OpenSSL implementation peer (i.e., by sending numerous PING frames), and then withholding any subsequent acks for ack-eliciting data, like legitimate data, said malicious peer can force inappropriate memory growth on the OpenSSL peer, potentially leading to a Denial of Service.

The fix is to ensure that we account for the transmission of the ACK-only packet in the packet histories high and low watermark without actually storing the ACK-only packet metadata itself.

FIPS impact: no The OpenSSL FIPS module is not affected as the QUIC code is outside the FIPS module boundary.

Affected Software

VendorProductVersion RangeStatus
OpenSSLOpenSSL4.0.0 < 4.0.2affected
OpenSSLOpenSSL3.6.0 < 3.6.4affected
OpenSSLOpenSSL3.5.0 < 3.5.8affected
OpenSSLOpenSSL3.4.0 < 3.4.7affected

Weaknesses

  • CWE-770: CWE-770 Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling

ADP Enrichment

CISA ADP Vulnrichment

  • SSVC:
  • Exploitation: none
    • Automatable: yes
    • Technical Impact: partial

References