Memory corruption via unbounded DTLS ACK records
Published Apr 9, 2026 · Updated Apr 9, 2026
Heap buffer overflow in DTLS 1.3 ACK processing in wolfSSL before 5.9.1 allows remote attackers to corrupt memory via crafted ACKs. Dtls13RtxAddAck and Dtls13WriteAckMessage track and encode an unbounded ACK-record list, and a 16-bit computed length can wrap before allocation. A DTLS 1.3 endpoint must process more than 4,096 attacker-supplied record numbers; the demonstrated case writes roughly 65 KB beyond the heap buffer, threatening integrity and service availability.
Summary
What happened
Heap buffer overflow in DTLS 1.3 ACK processing in wolfSSL before 5.9.1 allows remote attackers to corrupt memory via crafted ACKs. Dtls13RtxAddAck and Dtls13WriteAckMessage track and encode an unbounded ACK-record list, and a 16-bit computed length can wrap before allocation. A DTLS 1.3 endpoint must process more than 4,096 attacker-supplied record numbers; the demonstrated case writes roughly 65 KB beyond the heap buffer, threatening integrity and service availability.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-5264
- Published
- Apr 9, 2026
- Updated
- Apr 9, 2026
- Vendor
- wolfSSL
- Product
- wolfSSL
- Classifications
- CWE-122, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Apr 9, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Apr 9, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=0 <5.9.1
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- DTLS 1.3 ACK overflow reproducerproof of concept · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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