Read the docs
TI-2026-40356 Aliases CVE-2026-55950

DTLS listener crash via race condition in dtls_packet_demux causes denial of service for all sessions

Priority MEDIUM 44CWE-367Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Attack requirements
None
Impact type
—
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
None · None · High
Fix status
Fixed

Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA.

Summary

Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition vulnerability in Erlang/OTP ssl (dtls_packet_demux module) allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to crash all active DTLS sessions on a listener. A DTLS server listener uses a single shared dtls_packet_demux gen_server process to route incoming UDP datagrams to the correct connection handler. When a DTLS client reconnects rapidly from the same source address and port (sending multiple ClientHello messages in quick succession), a race condition in the demux's internal gb_trees key-value store causes a {key_exists, {old, Client}} crash, terminating the demux process. Because the demux is shared across all DTLS associations on that listener, its crash immediately kills every active DTLS session, not just the attacker's. The attack is pre-authentication: the attacker only needs to send UDP datagrams containing valid ClientHello messages from the same source IP and port before the intermediate DOWN monitor message is processed by the gen_server. No credentials, no completed handshake, and no special configuration are required, and the crash can be repeated indefinitely to create a persistent denial of service for all clients of that listener. This vulnerability is associated with program file lib/ssl/src/dtls_packet_demux.erl. This issue affects OTP from OTP 25.3 before OTP 29.0.3, OTP 28.5.0.3 and OTP 27.3.4.14, corresponding to ssl from 10.9 before 11.7.3, 11.6.0.3 and 11.2.12.10.

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00379 32nd percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Fixed No fixed version in the sources yet

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

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
ErlangOTP10.9 and later—No fix listedCNA
ErlangOTP25.3 and later—Patch availableCNA
  • OTP VendorErlang Affected 10.9 and later Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
  • OTP VendorErlang Affected 25.3 and later Fixed in — Patch available CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 2

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:erlang:erlang\/otp:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*25.3 to before 27.3.4.14; 28.0 to before 28.5.0.3; 29.0 to before 29.0.3VulnerableErlang
cpe:2.3:a:erlang:erlang\/ssl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*10.9 to before 11.2.12.10; 11.3 to before 11.6.0.3; 11.7 to before 11.7.3VulnerableErlang
  • cpe:2.3:a:erlang:erlang\/otp:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 25.3 to before 27.3.4.14; 28.0 to before 28.5.0.3; 29.0 to before 29.0.3 Vulnerable ·Erlang
  • cpe:2.3:a:erlang:erlang\/ssl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 10.9 to before 11.2.12.10; 11.3 to before 11.6.0.3; 11.7 to before 11.7.3 Vulnerable ·Erlang

Remediation

No fixed version listed by the sources yet.

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-55950

References

  • TI-2025-23504 Erlang/OTP SSH Vulnerable to Pre-Authentication RCE KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 10.0
  • TI-2023-26623 The SSH transport protocol with certain OpenSSH extensions, found in OpenSSH before 9.6… CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.9
  • TI-2017-14604 The Erlang otp TLS server answers with different TLS alerts to different error types in… CVSS 3.0MEDIUM 5.9
  • TI-2026-36669 Stack buffer overflow in SCTP error cause parsing in inet_drv allows remote VM crash CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2022-17230 In Erlang/OTP before 23.3.4.15, 24.x before 24.3.4.2, and 25.x before 25.0.2, there is a… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2016-08327 An issue was discovered in Erlang/OTP 18.x. CVSS 3.0CRITICAL 9.8
See all 40 →

Sources

This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences