CVE-2026-53918: odhcpd DHCPv6 IA dangling first pointer use-after-free

Published Oct 23, 2026
·
Updated

odhcpd is the DHCPv6, DHCPv4, and router-advertisement server used by OpenWrt. Prior to version 25.12, odhcpd's DHCPv6 IA handler keeps a per-message first lease pointer so multiple IA options in one message reuse the same Reconfigure authentication key. A DHCPv6 REQUEST from an adjacent-network client can make the first IA set first, then make a later same-IAID IA fail the on-link check and free that same lease, leaving first dangling. A following IA in the same packet allocates a new lease and copies first->key, producing a 16-byte heap-use-after-free read. ASan confirms the UAF; native tracing shows the packet shape can deterministically reclaim the freed lease as the destination allocation, producing a zeroed Reconfigure key copy. The validated impact is unauthenticated adjacent-network denial of service and DHCPv6 Reconfigure/ForceRenew key confusion. Arbitrary PC control is not proven for this UAF alone. This issue has been patched in version 25.12.

Affected Software

1 affected component
OpenWrt odhcpd<25.12

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

  1. Upgrade

    Upgrade odhcpd to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 25.12

Event History

Oct 23, 2026
CVE Published
via MITRE·01:21 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·01:21 PM
DescriptionWeakness

Contact

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