Vulnerability Description
A flaw was found in the OpenSSH package. For each ping packet the SSH server receives, a pong packet is allocated in a memory buffer and stored in a queue of packages. It is only freed when the server/client key exchange has finished. A malicious client may keep sending such packages, leading to an uncontrolled increase in memory consumption on the server side. Consequently, the server may become unavailable, resulting in a denial of service attack.
CVSS Score
MEDIUM
Affected Products
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Openbsd | Openssh | 9.5 |
| Canonical | Ubuntu Linux | 24.04 |
| Debian | Debian Linux | 11.0 |
Related Weaknesses (CWE)
References
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-26466Third Party Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2345043Issue Tracking
- https://seclists.org/oss-sec/2025/q1/144
- https://www.qualys.com/2025/02/18/openssh-mitm-dos.txtThird Party Advisory
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2025/Feb/18
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2025/May/7
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2025/May/8
- https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1237041Third Party Advisory
- https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-26466Third Party Advisory
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20250228-0002/Third Party Advisory
- https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-26466Third Party Advisory
- https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/02/18/1Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
- https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/02/18/4Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
- https://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/cve-2025-26466-detection-script-memory-co
- https://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/cve-2025-26466-mitigation-script-memory-c
FAQ
What is CVE-2025-26466?
CVE-2025-26466 is a vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.9 (MEDIUM). A flaw was found in the OpenSSH package. For each ping packet the SSH server receives, a pong packet is allocated in a memory buffer and stored in a queue of packages. It is only freed when the server...
How severe is CVE-2025-26466?
CVE-2025-26466 has been rated MEDIUM with a CVSS base score of 5.9/10. Review the CVSS metrics above for detailed severity breakdown.
Is there a patch for CVE-2025-26466?
Check the references section above for vendor advisories and patch information. Affected products include: Openbsd Openssh, Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Debian Debian Linux.