High severity · published Aug 13, 2026
CVE-2026-14456
Unbounded Memory Growth in QUIC Server Incoming Channel Queue
7.5
CVSS
0.7%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
Issue summary: When an OpenSSL QUIC server (Listener SSL object) processes
valid QUIC Initial packets for unknown destination connection IDs, it
can allocate and queue new incoming channels without enforcing any limit.
Impact summary: A remote peer that can make many Initial packets reach the
server listener faster than the application accepts connections, can cause the
memory allocated to store the per-channel state to grow without any limits,
potentially making the QUIC listener unavailable and causing Denial of Service.
CWE: CWE-770: Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling
Description: The function that handles inbound QUIC packets uses
Connection-Id from the packet header to find an existing connection
(QUIC channel). If no existing connection is found and the packet
type is INITIAL, the function treats the packet as a new connection. It
allocates a new channel object and inserts it into a queue where it
waits to be accepted by the local application with SSL_accept(3ossl).
The memory occupied by these initial channel objects may grow
without bounds if the application is not able to call SSL_accept()
frequently enough to serve these inbound connection requests.
The issue is present since OpenSSL 3.5 when the QUIC server implementation
was added.
The fix introduces a limit for pending connections. The default limit is set
to 256 pending connections (waiting to be accepted by the local application).
Applications may change the default by calling SSL_set_value_uint(3ossl).
FIPS impact: no
The FIPS module is not affected as the QUIC implementation is outside of
the OpenSSL FIPS module boundary.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.7% · higher than 54% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
OP
OpenSSL · OpenSSL
4.0.0 before 4.0.2; 3.6.0 before 3.6.4; 3.5.0 before 3.5.8 · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-14456
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-14456
github.com
https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/08e7756c3900bcfd77a720e7b74e27d6e4ed01a9
github.com
https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/4084152e040329ca0194c4c1750b9b46d00a5b6b
github.com
https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/f2f1465f2d2e5c61dfeac4d20fd093797d821139
openssl-library.org
https://openssl-library.org/news/secadv/20260813.txt
www.openwall.com
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/08/13/4
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