High severity · published Oct 14, 2026
CVE-2026-73252
Mongoose: Unauthenticated remote heap out-of-bounds read in built-in TLS: off-by-one length check in mg_tls_recv_record() underflows recv_len to SIZE_MAX
7.5
CVSS
0.4%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
Mongoose is an embedded web server and network library. Prior to 7.23, the built-in TLS stack selected by MG_TLS_BUILTIN in src/tls_builtin.c accepts a TLS 1.3 record whose decrypted size is exactly the 16-byte authentication tag with no plaintext or ContentType byte. In mg_tls_recv_record(), the msgsz length check permits that record and the recv_len calculation underflows to SIZE_MAX, so a later handshake step treats stale buffer contents as a trusted message with an effectively unbounded length. An unauthenticated malicious TLS peer can trigger a heap out-of-bounds read before certificate or Finished validation, causing a remote denial of service. This issue is fixed in version 7.23.
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)0.4% · higher than 31% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
MO
mongoose · cesanta
< 7.23 · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-73252
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-73252
github.com
https://github.com/cesanta/mongoose/commit/758e301f0c9a9885c1b716195df5fe6d6ac9d53e
github.com
https://github.com/cesanta/mongoose/releases/tag/7.23
github.com
https://github.com/cesanta/mongoose/security/advisories/GHSA-hq58-98f5-2wg3
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