Missing authorization lets SSH peers open forwarded channels in wolfSSH
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- Present
- Impact type
- Security bypass
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · Low
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-862.
Summary
wolfSSH from 1.4.8 through 1.5.0 built with --enable-fwd accepts forwarded-tcpip channel opens without an authorization check and does not cap how many it accepts. A malicious SSH peer can make an endpoint allocate unbounded per-channel buffers for forwarding channels the application never authorized. A malicious server can also open forwarding channels for addresses and ports the client never requested, because the client does not check them against its tcpip-forward registrations (CWE-862).
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-29
Description from the CNA
In wolfSSH through 1.5.0 built with --enable-fwd, DoChannelOpen() in src/internal.c gates only direct-tcpip channel opens with the forwarding policy callback. forwarded-tcpip opens are admitted without an authorization check and are not capped in number, allowing a malicious SSH peer to make an endpoint allocate unbounded per-channel buffers for forwarding channels the application never authorized. A client also does not check a forwarded-tcpip open against the forwards it registered with a tcpip-forward request, as RFC 4254 section 7.2 requires, so a malicious server can open forwarding channels for addresses and ports the client never asked it to forward.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- 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
The sources list no fixed version for wolfSSH.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-29
Timeline
- 2026-10-07 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-81535
- 2026-10-07 Alias added: GHSA-cqr9-f685-gr3w
- 2026-10-07 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-07 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
- 2026-10-13 CVSS score added · NVD
References
More wolfSSL vulnerabilities
- TI-2024-00830 SEGV and out of bounds memory read from malicious packet CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
- TI-2009-04246 Multiple stack-based buffer overflows in the CertDecoder::GetName function in src/asn.cpp… CVSS 2.0HIGH 7.5
- TI-2022-18557 In wolfSSL before 5.5.1, malicious clients can cause a buffer overflow during a TLS 1.3… CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2025-10943 Potential DoS Vulnerability through Multiple KeyShareEntry with Same Group in TLS 1.3 ClientHello CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 6.3
- TI-2017-09737 wolfSSL Bleichenbacher/ROBOT CVSS 3.0HIGH 7.5
- TI-2019-08902 wolfSSL 4.0.0 has a Buffer Overflow in DoPreSharedKeys in tls13.c when a current identity… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
Sources
- CVE-2026-81535 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-81535 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-cqr9-f685-gr3w · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
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