Deskflow: TLS multiplexer DoS on failed `SSL_accept`
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-400.
Summary
Deskflow is a keyboard and mouse sharing app. Prior to 1.26.0.167, a remote, unauthenticated denial of service (DoS) vulnerability affects Deskflow servers running with TLS enabled (the default). When any TCP peer connects to the listening port and its first bytes do not parse as a valid TLS ClientHello, SecureSocket::secureAccept enters its fatal-error branch and calls Arch::sleep(1) (a blocking 1-second sleep) on the multiplexer worker thread. That thread services every socket on the server, including established TLS clients delivering mouse motion, keyboard events, and clipboard updates. A single failed handshake therefore stalls input delivery to all connected screens for ~1 second, and a sustained drip of malformed connections (≥ 1/s) makes the server effectively unusable while the attack persists. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.26.0.167.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- 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
Remediation
- Fix · CNA deskflow (deskflow) Fixed in 1.26.0.167
Vendor assessments
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-44296
References
More deskflow vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-46910 Out-of-bounds read in deskflow CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.2
- TI-2026-45196 Deskflow: Odd-length DSOP options vector causes out-of-bounds read in Deskflow client CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.2
- TI-2026-30065 Deskflow: Local privilege escalation via unauthenticated IPC CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.8
- TI-2026-30064 Deskflow: clipboard deserialization global-buffer-overflow CVSS 4.0HIGH 7.4
- TI-2026-46991 Deskflow: Clipboard receiver can accumulate data beyond Deskflow's configured clipboard size limit CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 6.5
Sources
- CVE-2026-44296 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-44296 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- CVE-2026-44296 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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