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TI-2026-51114 Aliases CVE-2026-72897GHSA-x8gv-f6w5-h79g

Out-of-Bounds Access After SSL_set_SSL_CTX() During a Handshake

Priority LOW 39CWE-787Published · Updated

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
Partial Red Hat: 1 fixed, 7 without a fix

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-787 and the CVSS impact.

Summary

Issue summary: A TLS server that calls SSL_set_SSL_CTX() to switch a connection to a different SSL_CTX part way through a handshake may access memory beyond the end of an internal array if the replacement context knows about more provider signature algorithms than the context the connection was created from. Applications which never call SSL_set_SSL_CTX() are not affected. Impact summary: A remote peer may be able to cause a small out-of-bounds read, and in some circumstances a fixed-value out-of-bounds write, on the server heap. This may lead to a Denial of Service. CWE: CWE-787: Out-of-bounds Write Description: A TLS connection records how many certificate slots it has when it is created, taken from the SSL_CTX that created it: the built-in certificate types plus one slot for each provider TLS-SIGALG entry that context was aware of. That count sizes an internal array of per-slot certificate validity flags. An application may replace a connection's SSL_CTX part way through the handshake by calling SSL_set_SSL_CTX(), most commonly from a servername callback in order to serve a different virtual host. Doing so did not refresh the recorded count. A provider signature algorithm's slot index is its position in the list of whichever context resolves it, so if the replacement context is aware of more of them than the original, an algorithm offered by the peer can resolve to an index beyond the end of the array. Processing the peer's signature algorithms then reads one four byte word past the end for each such algorithm and, where the word read is zero, writes a fixed value over it. A peer offering many of them can corrupt heap metadata and abort the process. Only provider signature algorithms which occupy one of the excess slots, and which the server also has configured, have this effect. Codepoints the replacement context does not recognise are discarded without being resolved to a slot, and provider signature algorithms are usable only from TLS 1.3. The two contexts must therefore be aware of different numbers of provider signature algorithms, which requires separate library contexts, a provider loaded between the two being created, or providers which differ in what they advertise - in 4.0, for example, the default provider advertises SM2 where the FIPS provider does not. A deployment meeting the condition is also unable to negotiate the affected algorithms with legitimate clients, since the same stale count hides the corresponding certificates, so the misconfiguration is likely to be noticed. For that reason, and because the configuration is not the default, this issue has been assessed as Low severity. FIPS impact: no No FIPS modules are affected by this issue as the affected code is outside the OpenSSL FIPS module boundary.

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00388 33rd percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial OpenSSL (OpenSSL): 4.0.3, 3.6.5, 3.5.9 +1Red Hat: 2 advisoriesRed Hat: 1 fixed, 7 without a fix

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
OpenSSLOpenSSL4.0.0 to before 4.0.3; 3.6.0 to before 3.6.5; 3.5.0 to before 3.5.9; 3.4.0 to before 3.4.84.0.3, 3.6.5, 3.5.9, 3.4.8Patch availableCNA
  • OpenSSL VendorOpenSSL Affected 4.0.0 to before 4.0.3; 3.6.0 to before 3.6.5; 3.5.0 to before 3.5.9; 3.4.0 to before 3.4.8 Fixed in 4.0.3, 3.6.5, 3.5.9, 3.4.8 Patch available CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 1

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:openssl:openssl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*3.4.0 to before 3.4.8; 3.5.0 to before 3.5.9; 3.6.0 to before 3.6.5; 4.0.0 to before 4.0.3VulnerableOpenSSL
  • cpe:2.3:a:openssl:openssl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 3.4.0 to before 3.4.8; 3.5.0 to before 3.5.9; 3.6.0 to before 3.6.5; 4.0.0 to before 4.0.3 Vulnerable ·OpenSSL

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA OpenSSL (OpenSSL) Fixed in 4.0.3, 3.6.5, 3.5.9, 3.4.8

Red Hat 2 advisories

  • RHSA-2026:74166 Released 2026-09-30 · Red Hat rating Important
    Red Hat Hardened Images RPMs bug fix and enhancement update
    • Red Hat Hardened Images openssl3-1:3.5.9-0.1.hum1@src, openssl3-devel-1:3.5.9-0.1.hum1@aarch64, openssl3-devel-1:3.5.9-0.1.hum1@x86_64 +4
  • RHSA-2026:74162 Released 2026-09-30 · Red Hat rating Important
    Red Hat Hardened Images RPMs bug fix and enhancement update
    • Red Hat Hardened Images openssl-1:3.5.9-0.1.hum1@aarch64, openssl-1:3.5.9-0.1.hum1@src, openssl-1:3.5.9-0.1.hum1@x86_64 +12

Fixed in the same release

Records fixed by the same vendor advisory or release, as the CNA lists them.

  • Advisory ·

    OpenSSL — openssl-library.org/news/secadv/20260929.txt

    14 records Highest priority Priority MEDIUM 3 MEDIUM, 11 LOW

    Other records, highest priority first

    • TI-2026-58283 DTLS Retransmits Handshake Messages From a Stale Buffer OffsetPriority MEDIUM 43
    • TI-2026-58285 QUIC: Unbounded RETIRE_CONNECTION_ID BacklogPriority MEDIUM 40
    • TI-2026-39654 QUIC STREAM Fragment Metadata DoSPriority MEDIUM 40

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
Red Hat Developer Hub 1AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10AffectedNo fix yet
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9AffectedNo fix yet
Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI)Affected—
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat Satellite 6AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat Hardened ImagesFixed RHSA-2026:74162, RHSA-2026:74166
Not affected: 6 products
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
  • Red Hat Hardened Images
  • Red Hat JBoss Core Services
  • Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI)

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-72897
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-x8gv-f6w5-h79g
  3. 2026-10-16 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
  4. 2026-10-27 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
  5. 2026-10-30 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
  6. 2026-11-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat

References

  • TI-2022-01915 The c_rehash script allows command injection CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2021-02645 SM2 Decryption Buffer Overflow CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2009-03392 The TLS protocol, and the SSL protocol 3.0 and possibly earlier, as used in Microsoft… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2022-01176 The c_rehash script allows command injection CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2014-00154 The (1) TLS and (2) DTLS implementations in OpenSSL 1.0.1 before 1.0.1g do not properly… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2025-14107 Stack buffer overflow in CMS (Auth)EnvelopedData parsing CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
See all 312 →

Sources