Description
Libreswan in FIPS mode has a vulnerability where badly formed received certificates are rejected, but not deleted from the NSS cache. As a result, any real certificates with the same serial number are rejected as well. This can be abused to lock out legitimate peers from connecting. The add_decoded_cert() function missed a call to CERT_DestroyCertificate() due to an incorrect fix for CVE-2026-14957. Sending bogus certificates with new serial numbers could prevent the real certificates with those serial numbers from connecting until the service has restarted.
Published: 2026-10-13
Score: 3.7 Low
EPSS: n/a
KEV: No
Impact: n/a
Action: n/a
AI Analysis

No analysis available yet.

Remediation

Vendor Solution

Upgrade to libreswan 5.3.3 or later. Patches are available at https://libreswan.org/security/CVE-2026-77205/


Vendor Workaround

Disabling FIPS mode will prevent this attack vector. If this is not possible, upgrade to a later libreswan version or apply the available patch.

Tracking

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Advisories

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History

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 21:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Libreswan in FIPS mode has a vulnerability where badly formed received certificates are rejected, but not deleted from the NSS cache. As a result, any real certificates with the same serial number are rejected as well. This can be abused to lock out legitimate peers from connecting. The add_decoded_cert() function missed a call to CERT_DestroyCertificate() due to an incorrect fix for CVE-2026-14957. Sending bogus certificates with new serial numbers could prevent the real certificates with those serial numbers from connecting until the service has restarted.
Title Denial of Service via sending bogus X.509 certificates
Weaknesses CWE-772
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 3.7, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L'}


Subscriptions

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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: libreswan

Published:

Updated: 2026-10-13T21:28:03.390Z

Reserved: 2026-08-20T18:13:09.377Z

Link: CVE-2026-77205

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

No data.

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.

Weaknesses
  • CWE-772

    Missing Release of Resource after Effective Lifetime