libssh2 through 1.11.1, fixed in commit 42e33d8, contains a pre-authentication heap buffer overflow vulnerability that allows a malicious SSH server to corrupt heap metadata in any connecting client by sending a packet with a packet_length smaller than the cipher's block size during Encrypt-then-MAC cipher negotiation. In the fullpacket() function in src/transport.c, the ETM path allocates a buffer of packet_length bytes but copies blocksize minus one bytes via memcpy, causing an overflow that on 32-bit glibc writes attacker-controlled bytes into an adjacent chunk's SIZE field, enabling tcache bin confusion, overlapping live objects, and function pointer overwrite during the session handshake before authentication.
History

Fri, 24 Jul 2026 23:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Libssh2
Libssh2 libssh2
Vendors & Products Libssh2
Libssh2 libssh2

Fri, 24 Jul 2026 19:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'total'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}


Fri, 24 Jul 2026 18:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description libssh2 through 1.11.1, fixed in commit 42e33d8, contains a pre-authentication heap buffer overflow vulnerability that allows a malicious SSH server to corrupt heap metadata in any connecting client by sending a packet with a packet_length smaller than the cipher's block size during Encrypt-then-MAC cipher negotiation. In the fullpacket() function in src/transport.c, the ETM path allocates a buffer of packet_length bytes but copies blocksize minus one bytes via memcpy, causing an overflow that on 32-bit glibc writes attacker-controlled bytes into an adjacent chunk's SIZE field, enabling tcache bin confusion, overlapping live objects, and function pointer overwrite during the session handshake before authentication.
Title libssh2 Heap Buffer Overflow via ETM Cipher Negotiation
Weaknesses CWE-122
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

cvssV4_0

{'score': 7.7, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N'}


cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: VulnCheck

Published:

Updated: 2026-07-25T10:30:09.683Z

Reserved: 2026-07-23T20:45:17.816Z

Link: CVE-2026-66035

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2026-07-24T17:59:22.202Z

cve-icon NVD

No data.

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-07-24T22:45:17Z