Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-40170

Memory Safety in Tatsuhiro-T Ngtcp2 ≤ 1.22.1

Public PoCMemory Safety
Published
16 April 2026
Modified
15 July 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0078 53th percentile
Risk Priority 59 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2026-40170 is a high-severity Stack-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-121) vulnerability in Tatsuhiro-T Ngtcp2. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 47% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2026-40170 is a stack buffer overflow vulnerability in ngtcp2, a C implementation of the IETF QUIC protocol. In versions prior to 1.22.1, the function ngtcp2_qlog_parameters_set_transport_params() serializes peer transport parameters into a fixed 1024-byte stack buffer without bounds checking. When the qlog callback is enabled, this flaw allows writes beyond the buffer boundary if sufficiently large transport parameters are received.

A remote, unauthenticated attacker can exploit this vulnerability by sending oversized transport parameters during the QUIC handshake to a vulnerable ngtcp2 deployment that processes untrusted peer parameters with qlog enabled. Successful exploitation results in a stack buffer overflow, leading to application crashes and potential denial of service, as indicated by the CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H) and associated CWE-121 (Stack-based Buffer Overflow).

The issue is addressed in ngtcp2 version 1.22.1, where bounds checking was added to prevent overflows. Developers unable to upgrade immediately can mitigate by disabling the qlog callback, particularly on clients. Official advisories and the fixing commit are available via ngtcp2's GitHub security page and related announcements.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

ngtcp2 is a C implementation of the IETF QUIC protocol. In versions prior to 1.22.1, ngtcp2_qlog_parameters_set_transport_params() serializes peer transport parameters into a fixed 1024-byte stack buffer without bounds checking. When qlog is enabled, a remote peer can send sufficiently large…

more

transport parameters during the QUIC handshake to cause writes beyond the buffer boundary, resulting in a stack buffer overflow. This affects deployments that enable the qlog callback and process untrusted peer transport parameters. This issue has been fixed in version 1.22.1. If developers are unable to immediately upgrade, they can disable the qlog on client.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-27129Shared CWE-120, CWE-121
CVE-2024-37632Shared CWE-120, CWE-121
CVE-2023-41277Shared CWE-120, CWE-121
CVE-2025-48721Shared CWE-120, CWE-121
CVE-2024-31504Shared CWE-120, CWE-121
CVE-2023-4263Shared CWE-120, CWE-121
CVE-2026-49759Shared CWE-120, CWE-121
CVE-2023-41280Shared CWE-120, CWE-121
CVE-2024-32228Shared CWE-120, CWE-121
CVE-2023-41279Shared CWE-120, CWE-121

Affected Assets

tatsuhiro-t
ngtcp2
≤ 1.22.1

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 2 hardening rules · 2 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.2.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and analysis can discover stack-buffer overflows before deployment.

Input validation directly stops untrusted data from exceeding stack buffer bounds.

Memory-protection mechanisms limit the ability to execute injected code after a stack overflow.

Secure-engineering principles include bounds-checked coding and safe buffer handling that avoid introducing the flaw.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure-development practices directly prevent introduction of stack buffer overflows.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning can discover stack buffer overflows but does not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching eliminates known instances of the weakness after discovery.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

prevents

Secure coding directly requires bounds-checked memory operations, addressing the root cause of CWE-120.

finds

Security testing (fuzzing, static analysis) detects stack overflows before release.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates buffer-safety practices that directly prevent stack overflows.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify buffer-size and input-validation rules.

prevents

Secure architecture principles include memory-safety and least-privilege stack usage.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
  • V-248594 OL 8 must implement address space layout randomization (ASLR) to protect its memory from unauthorized code execution. prevents CWE-121
Oracle Linux 9 (1 rule)
  • V-271452 OL 9 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. prevents CWE-121

References