CVE-2026-42772

Potential CPU DoS via O(n^2) Fragment Reassembly in QUIC

MEDIUM
5.3
CVSS Score
Published: September 29, 2026 at 03:32 PM UTC
Updated: October 8, 2026 at 01:18 AM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorOpenSSL

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Severity
MEDIUM5.3
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.5%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

Issue summary: The QUIC stream reassembly algorithm performance deteriorates progressively as packets are arriving out of order. The worst case has a quadratic complexity proportional to the number of stream frames kept in the buffer for the received stream data. Impact summary: A remote QUIC peer that completes the handshake can create a connection-scoped CPU pressure and potentially a Denial of Service using compliant STREAM frames inside the advertised receive window, with low attacker bandwidth. CWE: CWE-407: Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity Description: OpenSSL manages received QUIC stream fragments using a doubly-linked list. While it optimizes for append operations (at the end of the list), it falls back to a head-to-tail linear search for any fragment that does not immediately follow the current `tail`. By manipulating the sequence of offsets, an attacker can force the server to perform O(n^2) operations, consuming excessive CPU time for the QUIC process. FIPS impact: no The FIPS module is not affected as the QUIC implementation is outside of the OpenSSL FIPS module boundary.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

3.4.0 ≤ v < 3.4.83.5.0 ≤ v < 3.5.93.6.0 ≤ v < 3.6.54.0.0 ≤ v < 4.0.33.4.03.5.03.6.04.0.0
Affected range stops below 3.4.8, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 3.5.9, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 3.6.5, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 4.0.3, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitAutomatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

5.3MEDIUMCISA-ADP
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
LOW
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusANALYZED
CWE
CWE-407

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