CVE-2026-68930: Russh: Channel-scoped server callbacks can be reached without an open channel
There is a server-side channel state issue in russh.
After a client is authenticated, russh can dispatch channel-scoped handler callbacks for recipient channel IDs that were never opened or confirmed. In the strongest reproduced case, the client does not send SSH_MSG_CHANNEL_OPEN at all. It authenticates normally, then sends SSH_MSG_CHANNEL_REQUEST packets with request type exec for a range of recipient channel IDs. russh still calls the server application’s exec_request handler.
This is not an authentication bypass. A valid login is required. The issue is that the SSH channel lifecycle is not enforced before channel-scoped callbacks are delivered to the application.
References
Code Behaviors & Features
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