CVE-2026-18798

EUVD-2026-65480
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.
ProviderTypeBase ScoreAtk. VectorAtk. ComplexityPriv. RequiredVector
opensslCNA
7.5 HIGH
NETWORK
LOW
NONE
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Base Score
CVSS 3.x
EPSS Score
Percentile: Unknown
Early Detection
Affected products identified ahead of NVD analysis through intelligence sources.
VendorProductVersionSource
opensslopenssl
4.0.0 ≤
𝑥
< 4.0.2
CNA
opensslopenssl
3.6.0 ≤
𝑥
< 3.6.4
CNA
opensslopenssl
3.5.0 ≤
𝑥
< 3.5.8
CNA
Ubuntu logo
Ubuntu Releases
Ubuntu Product
Codename
openssl
bionic
not-affected
focal
not-affected
jammy
not-affected
noble
not-affected
resolute
needed
trusty
not-affected
xenial
not-affected
openssl-fips
jammy
dne
noble
dne
resolute
dne
openssl1.0
bionic
not-affected
jammy
dne
noble
dne
resolute
dne
nodejs
bionic
needs-triage
focal
not-affected
jammy
not-affected
noble
not-affected
resolute
not-affected
trusty
not-affected
xenial
needs-triage
edk2
bionic
not-affected
focal
not-affected
jammy
not-affected
noble
not-affected
resolute
needs-triage
xenial
not-affected