CVE-2026-12996
Description
A flaw was found in OpenVPN. This use-after-free vulnerability allows remote authenticated peers to send specially crafted packets during TLS (Transport Layer Security) session promotion or expiry. Successful exploitation of this flaw could lead to a denial of service, making the service unavailable, or result in a memory leak, potentially exposing sensitive information.
Statement
Moderate impact. This use-after-free flaw in OpenVPN requires a remote authenticated peer to send specially crafted packets during TLS session handling. While it can lead to a denial of service or memory leak, the need for prior authentication limits the attack vector, making it less severe than unauthenticated vulnerabilities.
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Memory
If the expired pointer is used in a read operation, an attacker might be able to control data read in by the application.
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
If the expired pointer references a memory location that is not accessible to the product, or points to a location that is "malformed" (such as NULL) or larger than expected by a read or write operation, then a crash may occur.
Integrity,Confidentiality,Availability
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
If the expired pointer is used in a function call, or points to unexpected data in a write operation, then code execution may be possible.
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