Cesanta Mongoose TCP Option net_builtin.c handle_opt infinite loop
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- None
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · Low
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-404.
Summary
A weakness has been identified in Cesanta Mongoose up to 7.20. This vulnerability affects the function handle_opt of the file /src/net_builtin.c of the component TCP Option Handler. This manipulation of the argument optlen causes infinite loop. The attack is possible to be carried out remotely. The exploit has been made available to the public and could be used for attacks. Upgrading to version 7.21 is able to resolve this issue. Upgrading the affected component is advised. VulDB has contacted the vendor early and they confirmed quickly, that this issue got fixed already.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- Poc
- Automatable
- Yes
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cesanta | Mongoose | 7.0; 7.1; 7.2; 7.3; 7.4; 7.5; 7.6; 7.7; 7.8; 7.9; 7.10; 7.11; 7.12; 7.13; 7.14; 7.15; 7.16; 7.17; 7.18; 7.19; 7.20 | 7.21 | Patch available | CNA |
- Mongoose VendorCesanta Affected 7.0; 7.1; 7.2; 7.3; 7.4; 7.5; 7.6; 7.7; 7.8; 7.9; 7.10; 7.11; 7.12; 7.13; 7.14; 7.15; 7.16; 7.17; 7.18; 7.19; 7.20 Fixed in 7.21 Patch available CNA
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Mongoose (Cesanta) Fixed in 7.21
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-6985
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-3ppf-435x-3p66
- 2026-10-25 EPSS moved to the below the 50th percentile
References
More Cesanta Mongoose vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-51393 Mongoose: Content-Length + Transfer-Encoding coexistence enables request smuggling CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
- TI-2026-51389 Mongoose: TLS Hostname Verification Bypass via Overly Permissive Wildcard Matching CVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.1
- TI-2023-02723 Cesanta Mongoose MQTT Message Parsing Heap Overflow CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2020-15865 Buffer overflow in mg_resolve_from_hosts_file in Mongoose 6.18, when reading from a crafted hosts file. CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2023-17032 The HTTP server in Mongoose before 7.10 accepts requests containing negative… CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2019-13923 An integer overflow in parse_mqtt in mongoose.c in Cesanta Mongoose 6.16 allows an… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
Sources
- CVE-2026-6985 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-6985 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-3ppf-435x-3p66 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
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