CVE-2026-55950: erlang\/otp — Fix

Description

Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition vulnerability in Erlang/OTP ssl (dtls_packet_demux module) allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to crash all active DTLS sessions on a listener. A DTLS server listener uses a single shared dtls_packet_demux gen_server process to route incoming UDP datagrams to the correct connection handler. When a DTLS client reconnects rapidly from the same source address and port (sending multiple ClientHello messages in quick succession), a race condition in the demux's internal gb_trees key-value store causes a {key_exists, {old, Client}} crash, terminating the demux process. Because the demux is shared across all DTLS associations on that listener, its crash immediately kills every active DTLS session, not just the attacker's. The attack is pre-authentication: the attacker only needs to send UDP datagrams containing valid ClientHello messages from the same source IP and port before the intermediate DOWN monitor message is processed by the gen_server. No credentials, no completed handshake, and no special configuration are required, and the crash can be repeated indefinitely to create a persistent denial of service for all clients of that listener. This vulnerability is associated with program file lib/ssl/src/dtls_packet_demux.erl. This issue affects OTP from OTP 25.3 before 29.0.3, 28.5.0.3, and 27.3.4.14 corresponding to ssl from 10.9 before 11.7.3, 11.6.0.3, and 11.2.12.10.

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CVSS v3.1 Score

5.9

MEDIUM

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS — Exploit Prediction

0.0038

Probability of exploitation

0.31%

Percentile rank

EPSS estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A higher score means more likely to be exploited.

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-367 CWE-367

Affected Products

Vendor	Product	Versions
erlang	erlang\/otp	25.3 — 27.3.4.14
erlang	erlang\/otp	28.0 — 28.5.0.3
erlang	erlang\/otp	29.0 — 29.0.3
erlang	erlang\/ssl	10.9 — 11.2.12.10
erlang	erlang\/ssl	11.3 — 11.6.0.3
erlang	erlang\/ssl	11.7 — 11.7.3

References

Advisories & Patches

https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-55950.html https://github.com/erlang/otp/commit/e44d2bf01c4473ef2ea7f09e3523cf96de6e4a04 https://github.com/erlang/otp/security/advisories/GHSA-hwfc-5hf4-gvr3

Other References

https://osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-55950 https://www.erlang.org/doc/system/versions.html#order-of-versions

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-55950? +

Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition vulnerability in Erlang/OTP ssl (dtls_packet_demux module) allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to crash all active DTLS sessions on a listener. A DTLS server listener uses a single shared dtls_packet_demux gen_server process to route incoming UDP datagrams to the correct connection handler. When a DTLS client reconnects rapidly from the same source address and port (sending multiple ClientHello messages in quick succession), a race condition in the demux's internal gb_trees key-value store causes a {key_exists, {old, Client}} crash, terminating the demux process. Because the demux is shared across all DTLS associations on that listener, its crash immediately kills every active DTLS session, not just the attacker's. The attack is pre-authentication: the attacker only needs to send UDP datagrams containing valid ClientHello messages from the same source IP and port before the intermediate DOWN monitor message is processed by the gen_server. No credentials, no completed handshake, and no special configuration are required, and the crash can be repeated indefinitely to create a persistent denial of service for all clients of that listener. This vulnerability is associated with program file lib/ssl/src/dtls_packet_demux.erl. This issue affects OTP from OTP 25.3 before 29.0.3, 28.5.0.3, and 27.3.4.14 corresponding to ssl from 10.9 before 11.7.3, 11.6.0.3, and 11.2.12.10. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.9 (MEDIUM).

How severe is CVE-2026-55950? +

CVE-2026-55950 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 5.9 out of 10, rated MEDIUM. This is a medium-severity vulnerability that should be remediated as part of regular maintenance. The EPSS score is 0.0038, placing it in the 0th percentile for exploitation probability.

What products are affected by CVE-2026-55950? +

CVE-2026-55950 affects products from erlang, specifically: erlang\/otp, erlang\/ssl. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2026-55950? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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