A use-after-free in OpenVPN 2.6.0 through 2.6.20 and 2.7_alpha1 through 2.7.4 allows remote authenticated peers to potentially cause a denial of… (CVE-2026-12996)
A use-after-free vulnerability exists in OpenVPN versions 2.6.0 through 2.6.20 and 2.7_alpha1 through 2.7.4. This flaw allows remote authenticated peers to potentially cause a denial of service or leak memory by sending crafted packets during TLS session promotion or expiry.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2026-12996 is a use-after-free issue affecting OpenVPN versions 2.6.0 through 2.6.20 and 2.7_alpha1 through 2.7.4. Remote authenticated peers can exploit this vulnerability by sending specially crafted packets during TLS session promotion or expiry, which may lead to denial of service or memory leakage. The vulnerability is categorized under CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read). There are no known exploits in the wild, and no patch or official fix information is currently provided.
Potential Impact
Exploitation of this vulnerability can result in denial of service conditions or memory leaks on the affected OpenVPN server or client, potentially disrupting VPN connectivity or causing resource exhaustion. The attacker must be an authenticated remote peer to exploit this issue.
Mitigation Recommendations
Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory for current remediation guidance. Until an official fix is available, restrict access to trusted authenticated peers and monitor for unusual activity related to TLS session handling.
A use-after-free in OpenVPN 2.6.0 through 2.6.20 and 2.7_alpha1 through 2.7.4 allows remote authenticated peers to potentially cause a denial of… (CVE-2026-12996)
Description
A use-after-free vulnerability exists in OpenVPN versions 2.6.0 through 2.6.20 and 2.7_alpha1 through 2.7.4. This flaw allows remote authenticated peers to potentially cause a denial of service or leak memory by sending crafted packets during TLS session promotion or expiry.
CVSS v4.0
Affected software
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Weaknesses
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2026-12996 is a use-after-free issue affecting OpenVPN versions 2.6.0 through 2.6.20 and 2.7_alpha1 through 2.7.4. Remote authenticated peers can exploit this vulnerability by sending specially crafted packets during TLS session promotion or expiry, which may lead to denial of service or memory leakage. The vulnerability is categorized under CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read). There are no known exploits in the wild, and no patch or official fix information is currently provided.
Potential Impact
Exploitation of this vulnerability can result in denial of service conditions or memory leaks on the affected OpenVPN server or client, potentially disrupting VPN connectivity or causing resource exhaustion. The attacker must be an authenticated remote peer to exploit this issue.
Mitigation Recommendations
Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory for current remediation guidance. Until an official fix is available, restrict access to trusted authenticated peers and monitor for unusual activity related to TLS session handling.
Technical Details
- Gcve Source
- db.gcve.eu
- Osv Id
- GHSA-7226-c5q3-mc6p
- Osv Schema Version
- 1.4.0
- Aliases
- ["CVE-2026-12996"]
- Ecosystems
- []
- Database Specific Severity
- MODERATE
- Cvss Version
- 4.0
Threat ID: 6a6bdd8c9c2644c7f8da7394
Added to database: 07/30/2026, 23:26:04 UTC
Last enriched: 07/30/2026, 23:53:21 UTC
Last updated: 07/31/2026, 02:01:18 UTC
Views: 7
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