Excessive time spent checking invalid RSA public keys
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- High
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
Issue summary: Checking excessively long invalid RSA public keys may take a long time. Impact summary: Applications that use the function EVP_PKEY_public_check() to check RSA public keys may experience long delays. Where the key that is being checked has been obtained from an untrusted source this may lead to a Denial of Service. When function EVP_PKEY_public_check() is called on RSA public keys, a computation is done to confirm that the RSA modulus, n, is composite. For valid RSA keys, n is a product of two or more large primes and this computation completes quickly. However, if n is an overly large prime, then this computation would take a long time. An application that calls EVP_PKEY_public_check() and supplies an RSA key obtained from an untrusted source could be vulnerable to a Denial of Service attack. The function EVP_PKEY_public_check() is not called from other OpenSSL functions however it is called from the OpenSSL pkey command line application. For that reason that application is also vulnerable if used with the '-pubin' and '-check' options on untrusted data. The OpenSSL SSL/TLS implementation is not affected by this issue. The OpenSSL 3.0 and 3.1 FIPS providers are affected by this issue.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenSSL | OpenSSL | 3.0.0 to before 3.0.13; 3.1.0 to before 3.1.5; 3.2.0 to before 3.2.1 | 3.0.13, 3.1.5, 3.2.1 | Patch available | CNA |
- OpenSSL VendorOpenSSL Affected 3.0.0 to before 3.0.13; 3.1.0 to before 3.1.5; 3.2.0 to before 3.2.1 Fixed in 3.0.13, 3.1.5, 3.2.1 Patch available CNA
Remediation
- Fix · CNA OpenSSL (OpenSSL) Fixed in 3.0.13, 3.1.5, 3.2.1
Red Hat 2 advisories
- RHSA-2024:9088 Released 2024-11-12 · Red Hat rating Moderateedk2 security update
- Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 9) edk2-aarch64-20240524-6.el9_5, edk2-ovmf-20240524-6.el9_5, edk2-tools-20240524-6.el9_5 +1
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) edk2-20240524-6.el9_5, edk2-aarch64-20240524-6.el9_5, edk2-ovmf-20240524-6.el9_5
- RHSA-2024:2447 Released 2024-04-30 · Red Hat rating Lowopenssl and openssl-fips-provider security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) openssl-devel-1:3.0.7-27.el9, openssl-perl-1:3.0.7-27.el9
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) openssl-1:3.0.7-27.el9, openssl-libs-1:3.0.7-27.el9
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Low. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2024:9088 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2024:2447, RHSA-2024:9088 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2024:2447 |
Not affected: 7 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9)
- Red Hat JBoss Core Services
- Red Hat JBoss Web Server 5
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2023-6237
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-hvc4-mjv4-5mw6
References
Advisory 1
More OpenSSL vulnerabilities
- TI-2022-01915 The c_rehash script allows command injection CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2021-02645 SM2 Decryption Buffer Overflow CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2009-03392 The TLS protocol, and the SSL protocol 3.0 and possibly earlier, as used in Microsoft… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2022-01176 The c_rehash script allows command injection CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2014-00154 The (1) TLS and (2) DTLS implementations in OpenSSL 1.0.1 before 1.0.1g do not properly… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2025-14107 Stack buffer overflow in CMS (Auth)EnvelopedData parsing CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
Sources
- CVE-2023-6237 · CVE Program
- CVE-2023-6237 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-hvc4-mjv4-5mw6 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2023-6237 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences