CVE-2026-77207

Null Pointer Dereference in PKCS#7 bundle with no certificates

Published Oct 13, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 7.5 High EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
Libreswan has a null pointer dereference bug in the PKCS#7 handling code for IKE certificate authentication. When libreswan decodes an IKE CERT payload of type CERT_PKCS7_WRAPPED_X509, it guards the PKCS#7 blob with SEC_PKCS7ContainsCertsOrCrls() and then iterates the certificate list with SEC_PKCS7GetCertificateList(). The two NSS APIs disagree on a SignedData that carries a CRL but no certificates: ContainsCertsOrCrls() returns PR_TRUE (there is a CRL), so the guard passes, but GetCertificateList() returns NULL (there are no certificates). This causes libreswan to dereference a null pointer leading to a crash and restart. A malicious IKE_AUTH packet can trigger this bug, meaning the peer does not need to be authenticated. No remote code execution is possible. Continued exploitation can cause a denial of service.

Remediation

Vendor Solution

Upgrade to libreswan 5.3.3 or 5.4.1 or later. Patches are available at https://libreswan.org/security/CVE-2026-77207/


Vendor Workaround

Apply the available patch or upgrade to a supported version. No configuration-based workaround is available.

Tracking

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Advisories

No advisories available
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'yes', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Libreswan
Libreswan libreswan
Vendors & Products Libreswan
Libreswan libreswan
Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Libreswan has a null pointer dereference bug in the PKCS#7 handling code for IKE certificate authentication. When libreswan decodes an IKE CERT payload of type CERT_PKCS7_WRAPPED_X509, it guards the PKCS#7 blob with SEC_PKCS7ContainsCertsOrCrls() and then iterates the certificate list with SEC_PKCS7GetCertificateList(). The two NSS APIs disagree on a SignedData that carries a CRL but no certificates: ContainsCertsOrCrls() returns PR_TRUE (there is a CRL), so the guard passes, but GetCertificateList() returns NULL (there are no certificates). This causes libreswan to dereference a null pointer leading to a crash and restart. A malicious IKE_AUTH packet can trigger this bug, meaning the peer does not need to be authenticated. No remote code execution is possible. Continued exploitation can cause a denial of service.
Title Null Pointer Dereference in PKCS#7 bundle with no certificates
Weaknesses CWE-252
CWE-476
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
libreswan
Published
Updated
Oct 16, 2026, 3:31 PM
Reserved
Aug 20, 2026, 6:13 PM
Status
Awaiting Analysis
Published
Oct 13, 2026, 10:18 PM
Modified
Oct 16, 2026, 7:55 PM
Severity
Moderate
Public date
Oct 5, 2026, 12:00 AM