QUIC Transport Parameters Memory Leak During HelloRetryRequest in s2n-tls

Summary

CVECVE-2026-16318
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerAMZN
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-07-21 21:16:49 UTC
Updated2026-07-22 20:37:38 UTC
DescriptionThe QUIC transport parameters extension handler in s2n-tls incorrectly uses s2n_alloc instead of s2n_realloc to store the peer's transport parameters. When a TLS 1.3 connection goes through a HelloRetryRequest, the handler is called twice on the same connection. On the second call, s2n_alloc zeroes the existing pointer before allocating new memory, causing the first allocation to be leaked. This can occur during normal QUIC traffic when a client offers a key share group the server does not prefer. An unauthenticated user can amplify the issue by deliberately forcing HelloRetryRequests, causing up to approximately 64 KB of unreachable memory per handshake. Over time, this can lead to increased memory consumption on long-running server processes. The unreachable memory is only reclaimed when the process is restarted. Only server-side QUIC-enabled deployments are affected. Non-QUIC TLS connections are not affected. We recommend you upgrade s2n-tls to version v1.7.6

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v4.0 6.9 MEDIUM from ff89ba41-3aa1-4d27-914a-91399e9639e5

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/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

EPSS: 0.003880000 probability, percentile 0.313470000 (date 2026-07-22)

Problem Types: CWE-401 | CWE-401 CWE-401 Missing release of memory after effective lifetime


VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
4.0ff89ba41-3aa1-4d27-914a-91399e9639e5Secondary6.9MEDIUMCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/C...
4.0CNACVSS6.9MEDIUMCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
3.1ff89ba41-3aa1-4d27-914a-91399e9639e5Secondary5.3MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
3.1CNACVSS5.3MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

CVSS v4.0 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Attack Requirements
None
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Low
Sub Conf.
None
Sub Integrity
None
Sub Availability
None

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/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

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Low

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

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Amazon S2n-tls affected v1.7.5 custom Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/aws/s2n-tls/releases/tag/v1.7.6 ff89ba41-3aa1-4d27-914a-91399e9639e5 github.com
staging.prod.website.marketing.aws.dev/security/security-bulletins/2026-062-aws ff89ba41-3aa1-4d27-914a-91399e9639e5 staging.prod.website.marketing.aws.dev
github.com/aws/s2n-tls/security/advisories/GHSA-cr7x-863j-xrc7 ff89ba41-3aa1-4d27-914a-91399e9639e5 github.com
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