CVE-2026-42764
What it is
Issue summary: Receiving a QUIC initial packet with an invalid token may trigger a NULL pointer dereference in the OpenSSL QUIC server with address validation disabled. Impact summary: NULL pointer dereference typically causes abnormal termination of the affected QUIC server process and a Denial of Service. If the address validation is disabled in the OpenSSL QUIC server implementation, an attacker can crash the server by sending an initial packet with an invalid or expired token. By default, the client address validation is enabled in the OpenSSL QUIC server implementation, which makes the default configuration not vulnerable to this issue. However if the SSL_LISTENER_FLAG_NO_VALIDATE is used with the SSL_new_listener() call, the address validation is disabled making the vulnerable code reachable. The FIPS modules in 4.0, 3.6, 3.5, 3.4, and 3.0 are not affected by this issue, as the affected code is outside the OpenSSL FIPS module boundary.
At a glance
- Exploitability
- Can be exploited over the network without logging in. High risk of service disruption.
- Exploit odds
- 1.2% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).
- Fix
- A patch, advisory or fixed version is referenced. Upgrade or apply it.
Timeline
- PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
- Last updatedMost recent change to the record
Why it ranks here
- Exploited in the wild: no, CISA does not list it.
- Exploit odds: 1.2% in the next 30 days (EPSS).
- Severity: 7.5 HIGH (CVSS).
- Fix: a patch or advisory is linked.
Details
- Published
- Last modified
- Exploit probability
- 1.2% · EPSS, next 30 days
- Weakness
- CWE-476 · NULL pointer dereference
- Record status
- Analyzed
Affected
- OpenSSL < 3.5.7
- OpenSSL < 3.6.3
- OpenSSL 4.0.0
Attack profile CVSS 3.1 · 7.5
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Is it in your code?
Hand this to your coding agent. It searches your project for the affected products and checks versions. Nothing leaves your machine.
Read https://cve-list.com/agent/cve/CVE-2026-42764.md and follow it. Check whether this project is affected by CVE-2026-42764. Read only. Don't change anything and don't upload my code. Tell me yes, no or not sure, with the file as proof.
Fix and advisories
- https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/5e3ed291b8af0b03d5d3b9e56a1da69a187e9729
- https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/a45a0aba8095682c88ff4fc4a784892b8c6f0677
- https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/bf29a458c1a231eca87e384c62b9c2553fa57a91
- https://openssl-library.org/news/secadv/20260609.txt