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TI-2026-68961 Aliases CVE-2026-84897GHSA-39q2-5h5r-39p7

wolfSSH server accepts unauthenticated DH group exchange messages

Priority LOW 37CWE-372Published · Updated

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
No fix listed

Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-400.

Summary

wolfSSH from 1.2.0 through 1.5.0 accepts server-to-client Diffie-Hellman group exchange messages from unauthenticated clients (CWE-372). A client negotiating diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha256 can make the server run client-side handling. An unauthenticated remote attacker can force primality tests on values up to 8192 bits, consuming CPU before authentication.

Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-29

Description from the CNA

src/internal.c in wolfSSL wolfSSH through 1.5.0 admits the server-to-client Diffie-Hellman group exchange messages SSH_MSG_KEX_DH_GEX_GROUP (31) and SSH_MSG_KEX_DH_GEX_REPLY (33) when a server receives them from an unauthenticated client. IsMessageAllowedServer() applies no direction check to the key exchange message range: when the peer is keying and no particular message is expected, which is the state a server is in for the whole window after it processes the client's KEXINIT because nothing sets handshake->expectMsgId there, the function falls out of its expectation branch without a verdict and reaches a numeric bound that admits every message id from 30 through 34. A client that negotiates diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha256 and then sends message 31 makes the server run the client-side handler DoKexDhGexGroup(), which validates the attacker-supplied group with two 8-round Miller-Rabin primality tests, one on p and one on (p-1)/2, on a value of up to 8192 bits. The handler then returns success: the server stores the attacker's prime and generator, generates a Diffie-Hellman key pair in the attacker's group, and sends the client-role message SSH_MSG_KEX_DH_GEX_INIT (32) back to the attacker. Published RFC 3526 safe primes are the worst-case input and cost the attacker nothing to obtain. The primality validation was added in 1.5.0; versions from 1.2.0 through 1.4.22 admit the same message and enter the same client-role path without the primality cost. Message 33 is admitted as well, but on a server it is rejected before any cryptography because no public key check callback is registered, so it carries no comparable cost. Builds that define WOLFSSH_NO_DH_GEX_SHA256, which is implied by WOLFSSH_NO_DH or NO_SHA256, are unaffected.

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00483 41st percentileScored 2026-11-08
Fix No fix listed 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
wolfSSLwolfSSH1.2.0 – 1.5.0—No fix listedCNA
  • wolfSSH VendorwolfSSL Affected 1.2.0 – 1.5.0 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 1

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:wolfssh:wolfssh:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*1.2.0 to before 1.6.0VulnerablewolfSSH
  • cpe:2.3:a:wolfssh:wolfssh:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 1.2.0 to before 1.6.0 Vulnerable ·wolfSSH

Remediation

The sources list no fixed version for wolfSSH. Builds that define WOLFSSH_NO_DH_GEX_SHA256, which is implied by WOLFSSH_NO_DH or NO_SHA256, are unaffected.

Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-29

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-07 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-84897
  2. 2026-10-07 Alias added: GHSA-39q2-5h5r-39p7
  3. 2026-10-07 CISA SSVC decision points changed
  4. 2026-10-07 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
  5. 2026-10-13 CVSS score added · NVD

References

  • 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
See all 176 →

Sources