Bug 2504495 (CVE-2026-16318)

Summary: CVE-2026-16318 s2n-tls: s2n-tls: Denial of Service due to memory leak in QUIC transport parameters handler
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security <prodsec-ir-bot>
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Priority: medium    
Version: unspecifiedKeywords: Security
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Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in s2n-tls, a Transport Layer Security (TLS) implementation. An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit a memory leak in the QUIC transport parameters extension handler. By repeatedly forcing HelloRetryRequests during a TLS 1.3 connection, an attacker can cause the server process to consume increasing amounts of memory, leading to a Denial of Service (DoS) over time. This issue specifically affects server-side deployments with QUIC enabled.
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Bug Depends On: 2506060    
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-07-21 21:02:53 UTC 
The QUIC transport parameters extension handler in s2n-tls incorrectly uses s2n_alloc instead of s2n_realloc to store the peer's transport parameters. When a TLS 1.3 connection goes through a HelloRetryRequest, the handler is called twice on the same connection. On the second call, s2n_alloc zeroes the existing pointer before allocating new memory, causing the first allocation to be leaked.



This can occur during normal QUIC traffic when a client offers a key share group the server does not prefer. An unauthenticated user can amplify the issue by deliberately forcing HelloRetryRequests, causing up to approximately 64 KB of unreachable memory per handshake. Over time, this can lead to increased memory consumption on long-running server processes. The unreachable memory is only reclaimed when the process is restarted.



Only server-side QUIC-enabled deployments are affected. Non-QUIC TLS connections are not affected.



We recommend you upgrade s2n-tls to version v1.7.6