CVE-2026-81535: wolfSSH SSH client accepts unsolicited forwarded-tcpip channel opens without an authorization check

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2026-81535 is a critical (CVSS 9.1) Missing Authorization vulnerability in wolfssh. EPSS estimates a 0.30% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 23.3% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 07-10-2026
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 07-10-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

In wolfSSH through 1.5.0 built with --enable-fwd, DoChannelOpen() in src/internal.c gates only direct-tcpip channel opens with the forwarding policy callback. forwarded-tcpip opens are admitted without an authorization check and are not capped in number, allowing a malicious SSH peer to make an endpoint allocate unbounded per-channel buffers for forwarding channels the application never authorized. A client also does not check a forwarded-tcpip open against the forwards it registered with a tcpip-forward request, as RFC 4254 section 7.2 requires, so a malicious server can open forwarding channels for addresses and ports the client never asked it to forward.

• CWE-862Missing AuthorizationThe product does not perform an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.
• CWE-863Incorrect AuthorizationThe product performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action, but it does not correctly perform the check.