CVE-2026-88822 is a vulnerability in OpenSSL
Published on November 10, 2026
QUIC Uses Uninitialized Stack Bytes During Automated Peer Detection
Issue summary: QUIC, when performing automated peer detection, may allow
uninitialized stack data to leak into the received address which is then used
as the destination for outgoing packets.
Impact summary: Applications using QUIC's automated peer detection mechanism
may receive an invalid address, leading to connection loss and disclosure of
uninitialized stack data to an attacker observing the outgoing network traffic.
CWE: CWE-457 (Use of Uninitialized Variable)
Description: The OpenSSL QUIC stack contains a feature in which, when using an
already connected socket, it will auto-detect the peer address during the SSL
handshake. This feature uses the getpeername() function, passing a buffer of
sufficient length to hold any supported address family, but passes a buffer
length that is only sized such that larger addresses, such as IPv6, cannot be
retrieved. The getpeername() function however, still returns the full address
length, which is accepted as the valid input buffer length, leading to the
address buffer containing uninitialized stack data instead of the actual peer
address. The invalid peer address is then used as destination for the outgoing
packets which leads to a connectivity breakage and a leakage of the
uninitialized stack data to passive network observers.
FIPS impact: no
The FIPS modules in 4.0, 3.6, 3.5, 3.4, and 3.0 are not affected by this CVE as
the affected protocol is not implemented in the FIPS module.
Weakness Type
Use of Uninitialized Variable
The code uses a variable that has not been initialized, leading to unpredictable or unintended results. In some languages such as C and C++, stack variables are not initialized by default. They generally contain junk data with the contents of stack memory before the function was invoked. An attacker can sometimes control or read these contents. In other languages or conditions, a variable that is not explicitly initialized can be given a default value that has security implications, depending on the logic of the program. The presence of an uninitialized variable can sometimes indicate a typographic error in the code.
Products Associated with CVE-2026-88822
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Affected Versions
OpenSSL:- Version 4.1.0 and below 4.1.1 is affected.
- Version 4.0.0 and below 4.0.4 is affected.
- Version 3.5.0 and below 3.5.10 is affected.