All vulnerabilities
CVE-2026-42772

OpenSSL: Potential CPU DoS via O(n^2) Fragment Reassembly in QUIC

OpenSSL OpenSSLLibraries & packages
CVSS
5.3Medium
ExploitationNo known exploitationNot in CISA KEV, which does not prove it is unexploitedCISA KEV
Exploit odds (EPSS)0.33%Chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 24% of CVEs. Scored 23 Oct 2026FIRST EPSS
Fixed in4.0.3Also 3.6.5, 3.5.9 and 1 moreCVE List
Published29 Sep 2026Updated 30 Sep 2026CVE List

What fixes it

A fixed version on one release line is not the upgrade target for every line. Check your exact version and any vendor backports.

Description

Issue summary: The QUIC stream reassembly algorithm performance deteriorates progressively as packets are arriving out of order. The worst case has a quadratic complexity proportional to the number of stream frames kept in the buffer for the received stream data.

Impact summary: A remote QUIC peer that completes the handshake can create a connection-scoped CPU pressure and potentially a Denial of Service using compliant STREAM frames inside the advertised receive window, with low attacker bandwidth.

CWE: CWE-407: Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity

Description: OpenSSL manages received QUIC stream fragments using a doubly-linked list. While it optimizes for append operations (at the end of the list), it falls back to a head-to-tail linear search for any fragment that does not immediately follow the current tail.

By manipulating the sequence of offsets, an attacker can force the server to perform O(n^2) operations, consuming excessive CPU time for the QUIC process.

FIPS impact: no The FIPS module is not affected as the QUIC implementation is outside of the OpenSSL FIPS module boundary.

Text from CVE List

Affected versions 4

  • OpenSSLaffected: 4.0.0 before 4.0.3CVE List
  • OpenSSLaffected: 3.6.0 before 3.6.5CVE List
  • OpenSSLaffected: 3.5.0 before 3.5.9CVE List
  • OpenSSLaffected: 3.4.0 before 3.4.8CVE List

References 5