opensips: Stack-based Buffer Overflow
CVE-2026-45538 is a critical-severity stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in opensips, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. Affected opensips versions: <= 4.0.0. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.8% chance of exploitation within 30 days, higher than 57% of scored CVEs.
Critical severity: a successful attack would have severe impact.
What to do
- Check which version of opensips you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
- Read the advisory on github.com for workarounds and exact fixed builds.
- Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.
Affected products and versions
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- NoneNo account or login is needed.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
- Confidentiality
- HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
- Integrity
- HighData or code can be modified at will.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by CNA (github.com).
Official description
OpenSIPS is a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) server implementation. In versions 4.0.0 and prior, processing a SIP message with a header name longer than 255 bytes causes a stack buffer overflow when sip_to_json() is called in the routing script. Function sip_to_json() (modules/sipmsgops/sipmsgops.c) copies SIP header names into a fixed 255-byte stack buffer without bounds checking, performing a memcpy of the full header-name length even though the SIP parser imposes no such limit (a header name can be roughly 65000 bytes). As a result, when a routing script calls sip_to_json(), a SIP message with a header name longer than 255 bytes triggers a stack buffer overflow in which both the length and content of the overwrite are attacker-controlled, corrupting the saved frame pointer and return address. A single unauthenticated UDP packet to the SIP port (5060) can crash the process or, on builds without stack protections, hijack the return address to achieve remote code execution. This affects deployments whose routing script invokes sip_to_json(). This issue was not fixed at the time of publication.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Stack-based Buffer Overflow
The product writes past the end of a buffer that was allocated on the stack.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Use automatic buffer overflow detection mechanisms that are offered by certain compilers or compiler extensions. Examples include: the Microsoft Visual Studio /GS flag, Fedora/Red Hat FORTIFY_SOURCE GCC flag, StackGuard, and ProPolice, which provide various mechanisms including canary-based detection and range/index checking. D3-SFCV (Stack Frame Canary Validation) from D3FEND discusses canary-based detection in detail.
- Use an abstraction library to abstract away risky APIs. Not a complete solution.
- Implement and perform bounds checking on input.
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: poc, automatable: yes, technical impact: total).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Other vulnerabilities in opensips
- 7.3 High severity
- 8.7 High severity
- 8.7 High severity
- 9.1 Critical severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 9.1 Critical severity
Recent Stack-based Buffer Overflow vulnerabilities
- 9.8 Critical severity
- 7.8 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 9.2 Critical severity
- 9.2 Critical severity
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