CVE-2023-6237

Excessive time spent checking invalid RSA public keys

Description

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.

Category

5.9
CVSS
Severity: Medium
CVSS 3.1 •
EPSS 0.52%
Vendor Advisory openssl.org
Affected: OpenSSL OpenSSL
Published at:
Updated at:

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the severity of CVE-2023-6237?
CVE-2023-6237 has been scored as a medium severity vulnerability.
How to fix CVE-2023-6237?
To fix CVE-2023-6237, make sure you are using an up-to-date version of the affected component(s) by checking the vendor release notes. As for now, there are no other specific guidelines available.
Is CVE-2023-6237 being actively exploited in the wild?
As for now, there are no information to confirm that CVE-2023-6237 is being actively exploited. According to its EPSS score, there is a ~1% probability that this vulnerability will be exploited by malicious actors in the next 30 days.
What software or system is affected by CVE-2023-6237?
CVE-2023-6237 affects OpenSSL OpenSSL.
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