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NVD / CVE Program· CNA OpenVPN

CVE-2026-12996: A use-after-free in OpenVPN 2.6.0 through 2.6.20 and 2.7_alpha1 through 2.7.4 allows remote authenticated peers to potentially cause a…

MediumCVSS 6.0 · v4.0—No exploit Fix available

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 24/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.46% (FIRST EPSS).
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. No user action is required. Special conditions such as timing or configuration are required.
  • Fixed version: openvpn (Alpine:v3.24) 2.7.5-r0; openvpn (Debian:12) 2.6.14-0+deb12u2; openvpn (Debian:13) 2.6.14-1+deb13u3.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to openvpn (Alpine:v3.24) 2.7.5-r0; openvpn (Debian:12) 2.6.14-0+deb12u2; openvpn (Debian:13) 2.6.14-1+deb13u3 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

A use-after-free in OpenVPN 2.6.0 through 2.6.20 and 2.7_alpha1 through 2.7.4 allows remote authenticated peers to potentially cause a denial of service or leak memory via crafted packets during TLS session promotion or expiry

Published
Jul 30, 2026
Updated
Aug 5, 2026
EPSS
0.4% · 40th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

24

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
24 / 40 · 6.0 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.4%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
—
CNA · OpenVPN
6.0
NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2026-12996

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
openvpnopenvpn
debiandebian linux

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (OpenVPN). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • OpenVPN OpenVPN

    • 2.6.0 and later · up to and including 2.6.20affected · semver
    • 2.7_alpha1 and later · up to and including 2.7.4affected · semver

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • debian debian linux11.0
  • openvpn openvpn2.6.0 and later · before 2.6.21
  • openvpn openvpn2.7 and later · before 2.7.5

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Alpine:v3.24openvpnfrom 2.6.0 · before 2.7.5-r02.7.5-r0
Debian:12openvpnbefore 2.6.14-0+deb12u22.6.14-0+deb12u2
Debian:13openvpnbefore 2.6.14-1+deb13u32.6.14-1+deb13u3
Debian:14openvpnbefore 2.7.5-12.7.5-1
openSUSE:Leap 16.0openvpnbefore 2.6.10-160000.5.12.6.10-160000.5.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7openvpnbefore 2.6.10-150600.3.26.12.6.10-150600.3.26.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7openvpn-dcobefore 2.6.10-150600.3.26.12.6.10-150600.3.26.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 16.0openvpnbefore 2.6.10-160000.5.12.6.10-160000.5.1

Same product

openvpn: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2024-27903OpenVPN plug-ins on Windows with OpenVPN 2.6.9 and earlier could be loaded from any directory, which allows an attacker to load an…
    42Plan
  • CVE-2023-46850Use after free in OpenVPN version 2.6.0 to 2.6.6 may lead to undefined behavoir, leaking memory buffers or remote execution when sending…
    40Plan
  • CVE-2022-0547OpenVPN 2.1 until v2.4.12 and v2.5.6 may enable authentication bypass in external authentication plug-ins when more than one of them makes…
    40Plan

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-11771Jul 30, 2026 · OpenVPN version 2.1.0 through 2.6.20 and 2.7_alpha1 through 2.7.4 allows attackers via an off-by-one buffer write in the NTLM proxy…
    28Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-12932Jul 30, 2026 · A memory leak in the tls-crypt-v2 client key extraction in OpenVPN 2.5.0 through 2.6.20 and 2.7_alpha1 through 2.7.4 allows remote…
    28Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2026-13117Jul 30, 2026 · An incomplete guard in OpenVPN 2.6.0 through 2.6.20 and 2.7_alpha1 through 2.7.4 allows remote authenticated peers to trigger a…
    24Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
alpine:openvpn2.7.5-r0 · Alpine:v3.24Package registry (OSV)
debian:openvpn2.6.14-0+deb12u2 · Debian:12Package registry (OSV)
opensuse:openvpn2.6.10-160000.5.1 · openSUSE:Leap 16.0Package registry (OSV)
suse:openvpn2.6.10-150600.3.26.1 · SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7Package registry (OSV)
suse:openvpn2.6.10-160000.5.1 · SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 16.0Package registry (OSV)
suse:openvpn-dco2.6.10-150600.3.26.1 · SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

  • CVE-2026-8896475 days apartAn integer underflow in OpenVPN version 2.7_alpha3 through 2.7.7 on Windows and Android allows remote authenticated servers to cause a…
    28Monitor
  • CVE-2026-4021552 days apartA race condition in OpenVPN 2.6.0 through 2.6.19 and 2.7_alpha1 through 2.7.1 allows remote attackers to potentially cause a server crash…
    24Monitor
  • CVE-2026-133790 days apartThe Windows interactive service in OpenVPN 2.7_alpha1 through 2.7.4 allows remote attackers to cause persistent DNS state pollution or a…
    20Monitor

Not on record for this CVE: patch commit or PR link · researcher credit · public bounty program.

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • A low-privileged account is enough.
  • No user action is required.
  • Special conditions such as timing or configuration are required.

If successful

Confidentiality
Integrity
Availability
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
X

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-125 · Out-of-bounds Read

CVSS vector

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

nvd-secondary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

ATT&CK techniques

—

References

Show all references (3 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records