---
id: CVE-2026-54876
title: |-
  Issue summary: A malicious TLS server can cause a memory leak in a TLS
  client that has enabled OCSP response checking by sending an OCSP
  response that contains no single response entries.

  Impact summary: An attacker can leak an attacker…
summary: |-
  Issue summary: A malicious TLS server can cause a memory leak in a TLS
  client that has enabled OCSP response checking by sending an OCSP
  response that contains no single response entries.

  Impact summary: An attacker can leak an attacker…
severity: high
cvss: 7.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'
cwe:
  - CWE-401
  - CWE-772
published: '2026-08-05'
updated: '2026-08-28'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-54876'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/155b5fe0f93365e6df1c56ee3606b121080c6c12
    label: openssl-security@openssl.org
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/d8c51048ac037a21bae0f41cad7a3920dc7f3638
    label: openssl-security@openssl.org
  - url: 'https://openssl-library.org/news/secadv/20260805.txt'
    label: openssl-security@openssl.org
  - url: 'http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/08/05/8'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: >-
      https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-54876.json
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-54876'
  - url: 'https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2511600'
  - url: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-54876'
  - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-54876'
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:42825'
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:56097'
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:57021'
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:55543'
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:57986'
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:57994'
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:57565'
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:68764'
tags:
  - nvd
  - csaf
  - vex
  - red-hat
epss: 0.00524
epssPercentile: 0.44273
ingestedAt: '2026-08-29T16:39:13.787Z'
vendor: Red Hat
product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
affected:
  - confidential_cluster_operator
  - 3scale_api_management_platform 2
  - ansible_automation_platform 2
  - connectivity_link 1
  - openstack_platform 16.2
  - quay 3
  - satellite 6
  - confidential_compute_attestation
  - lightspeed_core
  - logging_subsystem_for_red_hat_openshift
  - migration_toolkit_for_applications 8
  - openshift_lightspeed
  - openshift_service_mesh 3
  - pen_drive_powered_by_red_hat_lightspeed
  - advanced_cluster_security 4
  - ansible_automation_platform_ansible_core 2
  - developer_hub
  - directory_server 13
  - discovery 2
  - enterprise_linux 10
  - enterprise_linux 6
  - enterprise_linux 7
  - enterprise_linux 8
  - enterprise_linux 9
  - enterprise_linux_command_line_assistant
  - jboss_web_server 7
  - offline_knowledge_portal
  - openshift_ai_rhoai
  - openshift_container_platform 4
  - openshift_update_service
  - trusted_artifact_signer
  - trusted_profile_analyzer
  - hardened_images
patched:
  - hardened_images
---

## Overview

Issue summary: A malicious TLS server can cause a memory leak in a TLS
client that has enabled OCSP response checking by sending an OCSP
response that contains no single response entries.

Impact summary: An attacker can leak an attacker-tunable amount of memory
per TLS handshake in a victim client application. A long-running client
that repeatedly connects to a malicious server can have its memory
exhausted, resulting in a Denial of Service.

CWE: CWE-401: Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime

Description: The affected function is called during X.509 certificate
chain verification when OCSP response checking is enabled
with the X509_V_FLAG_OCSP_RESP_CHECK or X509_V_FLAG_OCSP_RESP_CHECK_ALL
verification flags, for example when a TLS client verifies an OCSP
response stapled into the TLS handshake by the server.

When the received BasicOCSPResponse contains an empty SEQUENCE OF
SingleResponse, which is permitted on the wire and accepted by the
OpenSSL decoder, the OCSP_BASICRESP structure allocated by
OCSP_response_get1_basic() was not freed because an early return
bypassed the cleanup code at the end of the function.

The amount of memory leaked per handshake can be amplified by the
attacker by padding the certs field of the BasicOCSPResponse with
bogus certificates, which are parsed and stored in the leaked
structure before the empty response check triggers the early return.
A long-running TLS client that repeatedly connects to a malicious
server can have its memory exhausted over time.

OCSP response checking is not enabled by default. Only client
applications that explicitly enable the OCSP response check
verification flags are affected.

FIPS impact: no

The FIPS modules in 4.0 and 3.6 are not affected by this issue as the
affected code is outside the OpenSSL FIPS module boundary.

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.

## Vendor advisories

- **RHSA-2026:42825** · Red Hat · fixed in: Red Hat Hardened Images · released 2026-07-21 · [advisory](https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:42825)
- **RHSA-2026:56097** · Red Hat · fixed in: Red Hat Hardened Images · released 2026-08-18 · [advisory](https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:56097)
- **RHSA-2026:57021** · Red Hat · fixed in: Red Hat Hardened Images · released 2026-08-19 · [advisory](https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:57021)
- **RHSA-2026:55543** · Red Hat · fixed in: Red Hat Hardened Images · released 2026-08-17 · [advisory](https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:55543)
- **RHSA-2026:57986** · Red Hat · fixed in: Red Hat Hardened Images · released 2026-08-21 · [advisory](https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:57986)
- **RHSA-2026:57994** · Red Hat · fixed in: Red Hat Hardened Images · released 2026-08-21 · [advisory](https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:57994)
- **RHSA-2026:57565** · Red Hat · fixed in: Red Hat Hardened Images · released 2026-08-20 · [advisory](https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:57565)
- **Red Hat VEX** · Important · affected: Confidential Compute Attestation, Red Hat 3scale API Management Platform 2, Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4, Red Hat Trusted Profile Analyzer · no fix planned: Red Hat 3scale API Management Platform 2, Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2, Confidential Compute Attestation, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4, … · updated 2026-10-15 · [vex](https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-54876.json)
- **RHSA-2026:68764** · Red Hat · fixed in: Red Hat Satellite 6.18 · released 2026-09-17 · [advisory](https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:68764)
