High severity · published Oct 23, 2026
CVE-2026-53918
odhcpd DHCPv6 IA dangling first pointer use-after-free
New
8.8
CVSS
0.5%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
odhcpd is the DHCPv6, DHCPv4, and router-advertisement server used by OpenWrt. Prior to version 25.12, odhcpd's DHCPv6 IA handler keeps a per-message `first` lease pointer so multiple IA options in one message reuse the same Reconfigure authentication key. A DHCPv6 REQUEST from an adjacent-network client can make the first IA set `first`, then make a later same-IAID IA fail the on-link check and free that same lease, leaving `first` dangling. A following IA in the same packet allocates a new lease and copies `first->key`, producing a 16-byte heap-use-after-free read. ASan confirms the UAF; native tracing shows the packet shape can deterministically reclaim the freed lease as the destination allocation, producing a zeroed Reconfigure key copy. The validated impact is unauthenticated adjacent-network denial of service and DHCPv6 Reconfigure/ForceRenew key confusion. Arbitrary PC control is not proven for this UAF alone. This issue has been patched in version 25.12.
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.5% · higher than 43% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
OD
odhcpd · openwrt
< 25.12 · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53918
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-53918
github.com
https://github.com/openwrt/odhcpd/commit/26b122007030ebf192376aff8f98d428b25e2a93
github.com
https://github.com/openwrt/odhcpd/commit/5b283832c0a77aed20f1cc384ffc40bc768b06e9
github.com
https://github.com/openwrt/odhcpd/security/advisories/GHSA-44ff-jcwh-wgc2
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