CVE-2026-94453 (GCVE-0-2026-94453)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-10-13 21:27 – Updated: 2026-10-13 21:27
VLAI
Title
IKEv2 Use-After-Free bug when using IKE-over-TCP
Summary
Libreswan's pluto daemon has a use-after-free vulnerability when a client connecting using IKE over TCP closes the connection and another packet (retransmit or malicious) is received for the same tuple. IKE state is retained in memory after the client closes the connection, storing a pointer to iface_endpoint inside ike_sa.sa->st_iface_endpoint. Once this invalid pointer is used, the daemon crashes and restarts. This vulnerability can be triggered before the remote peer has authenticated itself. Continued exploitation can lead to a denial of service. Remote code execution could be possible. The IKE over TCP option is not enabled by default; only configurations that contain listen-tcp=yes are affected.
CWE
Assigner
libreswan CNA under the mitre root
CNA scorecard – unranked: 8 records in the last 180 days, 10 needed details
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version CPE status
The Libreswan Project libreswan Affected: 4.0 , ≤ 5.3.2 (semver)
Affected: 5.4 , ≤ 5.4 (semver)
Unaffected: 5.3.3 (semver)
Unaffected: 5.4.1 (semver)
guessed Create a notification for this product.
Credits
Show details on NVD website

{
  "containers": {
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "collectionURL": "https://github.com/libreswan/libreswan",
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "packageName": "libreswan",
          "product": "libreswan",
          "repo": "https://github.com/libreswan/libreswan",
          "vendor": "The Libreswan Project",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "5.3.2",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "4.0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "5.4",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "5.4",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "5.3.3",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "5.4.1",
              "versionType": "semver"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "configurations": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "Only configurations with listen-tcp=yes are vulnerable. IKE over TCP is not enabled by default in libreswan."
        }
      ],
      "credits": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "type": "finder",
          "value": "Vlad Miu"
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "Libreswan\u0027s pluto daemon has a use-after-free vulnerability when a client connecting using IKE over TCP closes the connection and another packet (retransmit or malicious) is received for the same tuple. IKE state is retained in memory after the client closes the connection, storing a pointer to iface_endpoint inside ike_sa.sa-\u003est_iface_endpoint. Once this invalid pointer is used, the daemon crashes and restarts. This vulnerability can be triggered before the remote peer has authenticated itself. Continued exploitation can lead to a denial of service. Remote code execution could be possible. The IKE over TCP option is not enabled by default; only configurations that contain listen-tcp=yes are affected."
        }
      ],
      "exploits": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "No known exploitation in the wild. Exploitation requires IKE over TCP to be enabled (listen-tcp=yes). The vulnerability can be triggered remotely without authentication."
        }
      ],
      "impacts": [
        {
          "descriptions": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "value": "Denial of service and potential remote code execution via use-after-free when processing IKE-over-TCP connections"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "cvssV3_1": {
            "attackComplexity": "LOW",
            "attackVector": "NETWORK",
            "availabilityImpact": "HIGH",
            "baseScore": 7.5,
            "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
            "confidentialityImpact": "NONE",
            "integrityImpact": "NONE",
            "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
            "scope": "UNCHANGED",
            "userInteraction": "NONE",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H",
            "version": "3.1"
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            }
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        },
        {
          "other": {
            "content": {
              "description": "Vendor-assessed severity: High. Exploitation does not require authentication. IKE over TCP is not enabled by default but affects any configuration with listen-tcp=yes.",
              "value": "HIGH"
            },
            "type": "vendorSeverity"
          }
        }
      ],
      "problemTypes": [
        {
          "descriptions": [
            {
              "cweId": "CWE-416",
              "description": "CWE-416: Use After Free",
              "lang": "en",
              "type": "CWE"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-10-13T21:27:43.376Z",
        "orgId": "d42dc95b-23f1-4e06-9076-20753a0fb0df",
        "shortName": "libreswan"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "name": "Libreswan Security Advisory CVE-2026-94453",
          "tags": [
            "vendor-advisory"
          ],
          "url": "https://libreswan.org/security/CVE-2026-94453/CVE-2026-94453.txt"
        },
        {
          "name": "Libreswan CVE-2026-94453 Patches",
          "tags": [
            "patch"
          ],
          "url": "https://libreswan.org/security/CVE-2026-94453/"
        }
      ],
      "solutions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "Upgrade to libreswan 5.3.3 or 5.4.1 or later. Patches are available at https://libreswan.org/security/CVE-2026-94453/"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "defects": [
          "CVE-2026-94453"
        ],
        "discovery": "EXTERNAL"
      },
      "taxonomyMappings": [
        {
          "taxonomyName": "ATT\u0026CK",
          "taxonomyRelations": [
            {
              "relationshipName": "maps to",
              "relationshipValue": "Application or System Exploitation (DoS)",
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          "taxonomyVersion": "15.1"
        }
      ],
      "timeline": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "time": "2026-09-16T00:00:00.000Z",
          "value": "Libreswan was notified of the issue via security@libreswan.org"
        },
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "time": "2026-09-24T00:00:00.000Z",
          "value": "Advanced notice given to supported customers and distributions"
        },
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "time": "2026-10-05T00:00:00.000Z",
          "value": "Public announcement and release of libreswan 5.3.3 and 5.4.1"
        }
      ],
      "title": "IKEv2 Use-After-Free bug when using IKE-over-TCP",
      "workarounds": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "To temporarily disable IKE over TCP, set listen-tcp=no."
        }
      ],
      "x_generator": {
        "engine": "cvelib 1.8.0"
      }
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "d42dc95b-23f1-4e06-9076-20753a0fb0df",
    "assignerShortName": "libreswan",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-94453",
    "datePublished": "2026-10-13T21:27:43.376Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-09-21T17:09:02.116Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-10-13T21:27:43.376Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2",
  "vulnerability-lookup:meta": {
    "epss": {
      "cve": "CVE-2026-94453",
      "date": "2026-10-14",
      "epss": "0.00454",
      "percentile": "0.37831"
    },
    "nvd": {
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        "cveTags": [],
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            "lang": "en",
            "value": "Libreswan\u0027s pluto daemon has a use-after-free vulnerability when a client connecting using IKE over TCP closes the connection and another packet (retransmit or malicious) is received for the same tuple. IKE state is retained in memory after the client closes the connection, storing a pointer to iface_endpoint inside ike_sa.sa-\u003est_iface_endpoint. Once this invalid pointer is used, the daemon crashes and restarts. This vulnerability can be triggered before the remote peer has authenticated itself. Continued exploitation can lead to a denial of service. Remote code execution could be possible. The IKE over TCP option is not enabled by default; only configurations that contain listen-tcp=yes are affected."
          }
        ],
        "id": "CVE-2026-94453",
        "lastModified": "2026-10-13T22:19:30.253",
        "metrics": {
          "cvssMetricV31": [
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                "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
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        "references": [
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            "url": "https://libreswan.org/security/CVE-2026-94453/"
          },
          {
            "source": "d42dc95b-23f1-4e06-9076-20753a0fb0df",
            "url": "https://libreswan.org/security/CVE-2026-94453/CVE-2026-94453.txt"
          }
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        "vulnStatus": "Received",
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      "cve": "CVE-2026-94453",
      "id": "CVE-2026-94453",
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      "product_status:known_affected": "15",
      "source": "Red Hat CSAF VEX",
      "status": "final",
      "title": "libreswan: IKEv2 Use-After-Free bug when using IKE-over-TCP",
      "url": "https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-94453.json",
      "version": "3"
    }
  }
}



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