Description
Libreswan's IKEv2 state machine has a null pointer dereference bug in the EAP handling code for authentication. As a result of inconsistency within the IKEv2 state machine code, this bug can be triggered by any IKEv2 connection, even if EAP is not configured at all. The error is caused by a fall-through where it incorrectly dereferences ike->sa.st_eap which is NULL. A malicious IKE_AUTH packet can trigger this bug, meaning the peer does not need to be authenticated. The bug results in a crash and restart of the pluto daemon. No remote code execution is possible. Continued exploitation can cause a denial of service.
Published: 2026-10-13
Score: 7.5 High
EPSS: n/a
KEV: No
Impact: n/a
Action: n/a
AI Analysis

Analysis and contextual insights are available on OpenCVE Cloud.

Remediation

Vendor Solution

Upgrade to libreswan 5.3.3 or 5.4.1 or later. Note that EAP was not functional in libreswan 5.3. If you need EAP support, use 5.4.1 or later. Patches are available at https://libreswan.org/security/CVE-2026-77206/


Vendor Workaround

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

Tracking

Sign in to view the affected projects.

Advisories

No advisories yet.

History

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

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Libreswan's IKEv2 state machine has a null pointer dereference bug in the EAP handling code for authentication. As a result of inconsistency within the IKEv2 state machine code, this bug can be triggered by any IKEv2 connection, even if EAP is not configured at all. The error is caused by a fall-through where it incorrectly dereferences ike->sa.st_eap which is NULL. A malicious IKE_AUTH packet can trigger this bug, meaning the peer does not need to be authenticated. The bug results in a crash and restart of the pluto daemon. No remote code execution is possible. Continued exploitation can cause a denial of service.
Title IKEv2 pre-authentication Null Pointer Dereference in EAP code
Weaknesses 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'}


Subscriptions

No data.

cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: libreswan

Published:

Updated: 2026-10-13T21:28:11.498Z

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

Link: CVE-2026-77206

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-10-13T22:18:24.727

Modified: 2026-10-13T22:18:24.727

Link: CVE-2026-77206

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.

Weaknesses