# CVE-2026-15442: Heap use-after-free on read during bidirectional (D)TLS shutdown

> A heap use-after-free in wolfSSL during bidirectional TLS shutdown allows attackers to cause denial of service or potentially execute code.

- **Severity:** Low 2.3 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 27 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 30 Sep 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-105197, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-15442, GHSA-rjf7-5h4x-wj8p, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-15442

## What is CVE-2026-15442?

CVE-2026-15442 is a low-severity use after free vulnerability in Wolfssl Wolfssl, published on 27 Sep 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In all builds that make use of (D)TLS, including default builds, there is a series of conditional states during the TLS shutdown which could lead to a heap-use-after free. If an application ended up getting a partial wolfSSL_read() which is sometimes caused by a small user buffer  passed in, then called wolfSSL_shutdown for a bidirectional close and attempted to wolfSSL_read() again while the peer continues trying to send data during the shutdown it would lead to a state where a potential heap-use-after free happened.

Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-15442?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Wolfssl Wolfssl.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-15442?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-15442 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-15442 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-15442 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Wolfssl Wolfssl

- [CVE-2024-5991](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-5991/): Buffer overread in domain name matching (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2021-37155](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-37155/): Security feature bypass in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2020-36177](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-36177/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2014-2896](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-2896/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2014-2897](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-2897/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-15442 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-15442 is a low-severity use after free vulnerability in Wolfssl Wolfssl, published on 27 Sep 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-15442 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Wolfssl Wolfssl. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-15442/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-15442/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-15442
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-15442
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-15442

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-15442/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.