CVE-2026-33846
Gnutls: gnutls: denial of service via heap buffer overflow in dtls handshake fragment reassembly
No known exploitation. EPSS puts it in the 65th percentile. Only a workaround so far.
What to do
No fixed build is published yet. The vendor describes a workaround.
What it is
From the CVE record
A heap buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the DTLS handshake fragment reassembly logic of GnuTLS. The issue arises in merge_handshake_packet() where incoming handshake fragments are matched and merged based solely on handshake type, without validating that the message_length field remains consistent across all fragments of the same logical message. An attacker can exploit this by sending crafted DTLS fragments with conflicting message_length values, causing the implementation to allocate a buffer based on a smaller initial fragment and subsequently write beyond its bounds using larger, inconsistent fragments. Because the merge operation does not enforce proper bounds checking against the allocated buffer size, this results in an out-of-bounds write on the heap. The vulnerability is remotely exploitable without authentication via the DTLS handshake path and can lead to application crashes or potential memory corruption.
In plain language
No plain-language summary for this CVE yet.
Exploitation
Where each signal puts this CVE on the scale from published to confirmed exploited.
- CISA KEV
Not in the catalog. CISA has not confirmed exploitation.
- Public exploits
No public exploit or proof of concept found in the sources we track.
- EPSS
1.1% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the 65th percentile of scored CVEs.
Exploit Prediction Scoring System, FIRST.org. A probability, not a confirmation.
Lifecycle
47 events over 137 days, from the signal feeds we watch.
- Workaround availablerecord updated
- Workaround availablerecord updated
- Workaround availablerecord updated
- Workaround availablerecord updated
- Workaround availablerecord updated
- Workaround availableworkaround available, record updated, record updated
Affected products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10Operating Systems / linux-distro
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10.0 Extended Update SupportOperating Systems / linux-distro
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Extended Lifecycle SupportOperating Systems / linux-distro
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Advanced Mission Critical Update SupportOperating Systems / linux-distro
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Extended Update Support Long-Life Add-OnOperating Systems / linux-distro
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Advanced Mission Critical Update SupportOperating Systems / linux-distro
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Extended Update Support Long-Life Add-OnOperating Systems / linux-distro
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Telecommunications Update ServiceOperating Systems / linux-distro
And 20 more affected products. See all after sign-in
Technical detail
CVSS 3.1 vector
Open in the CVSS calculatorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Scored 7.5 by NVD.
How it is reached
- Attack Vector NetworkExploitable remotely over the network without any special conditions
- Attack Complexity LowNo special conditions — the attack can be reliably reproduced
- Privileges Required NoneNo authentication required — anyone can exploit this
- User Interaction NoneNo user interaction needed — fully automated exploitation
Scope
- Scope UnchangedImpact is limited to the vulnerable component itself
Impact if exploited
- Confidentiality NoneNo confidentiality impact
- Integrity NoneNo integrity impact
- Availability HighTotal denial of service — the component is completely unavailable
Weaknesses
Sources
References in the record
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:13274
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:20611
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:20612
And 26 more references. See all after sign-in
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