High severity · published Aug 25, 2026
CVE-2026-18798
QUIC Server May Trigger Double Free When Processing INITIAL Packet
7.5
CVSS
1.7%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
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.
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)1.7% · higher than 77% 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, NVD
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-18798
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-18798
Patch
https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/70cebd74d3592f5272945501b58a60374c4e13af
Patch
https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/967582d5037f01a26b6d19beae19af62a1b15c3c
Patch
https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/a14a1deac403522fbeafabcb198503cf6caa7dc4
Vendor Advisory
https://openssl-library.org/news/secadv/20260825.txt
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