GHSA-5R49-X3JP-QP9H
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-09-29 18:31 – Updated: 2026-09-29 18:31Issue 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.
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-42772"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-407"
],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2026-09-29T16:17:07Z",
"severity": null
},
"details": "Issue summary: The QUIC stream reassembly algorithm performance deteriorates\nprogressively as packets are arriving out of order. The worst case has\na quadratic complexity proportional to the number of stream frames kept in\nthe buffer for the received stream data.\n\nImpact summary: A remote QUIC peer that completes the handshake can create\na connection-scoped CPU pressure and potentially a Denial of Service using\ncompliant STREAM frames inside the advertised receive window, with low\nattacker bandwidth.\n\nCWE: CWE-407: Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity\n\nDescription: OpenSSL manages received QUIC stream fragments using a\ndoubly-linked list. While it optimizes for append operations (at the end of\nthe list), it falls back to a head-to-tail linear search for any fragment\nthat does not immediately follow the current `tail`.\n\nBy manipulating the sequence of offsets, an attacker can force the server\nto perform O(n^2) operations, consuming excessive CPU time for the\nQUIC process.\n\nFIPS impact: no\nThe FIPS module is not affected as the QUIC implementation is outside of\nthe OpenSSL FIPS module boundary.",
"id": "GHSA-5r49-x3jp-qp9h",
"modified": "2026-09-29T18:31:44Z",
"published": "2026-09-29T18:31:44Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42772"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/32d0ed8afe1b8c3e7ece725b44663da3d7087a09"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/ca8402e273af4de5b3f04fa61a0f0c02ce3ae20e"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/eb2becc0a4baea7f3050a247834d0e5c2ebe1773"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/f42ae513bbda513b3c121d54834040ee4a0eae1a"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://openssl-library.org/news/secadv/20260929.txt"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": []
}
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