Vulnerability · Published Aug 25, 2026 · Assigned by openssl

CVE-2026-63073Untrusted Sender DN Used as Format String in CMP Response Validation

Critical 9.8

In plain English

A critical-severity security flaw in OpenSSL from OpenSSL. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 1.2% (higher than 67% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS 3.1)9.8Critical
Exploit odds (30 days)1.2%top 32.7% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: none
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

Issue summary: OpenSSL CMP response validation passed an unexpected response sender distinguished name directly as the format string to `ERR_raise_data()`. Impact summary: A malicious or intercepted CMP endpoint can crash a CMP client that enforces an expected sender or uses a pinned server certificate whose subject becomes the default expected sender. CWE: CWE-134 (Use of Externally-Controlled Format String) Description: When validating a received CMP message, ossl_cmp_msg_check_update() converts the peer-supplied sender distinguished name with X509_NAME_oneline() and passes it directly as the format argument to ERR_raise_data(). Percent characters survive the conversion, so a sender DN such as "CN=%s%n" reaches BIO_vsnprintf() as an attacker-controlled format string with no matching variadic arguments. This path is only reached when the caller configures an expected sender or pins a server certificate, which is the normal configuration for a CMP client validating server responses. Since the attacker controls the format string but none of the variadic arguments, such specifiers as %s and %n dereference or write through unrelated stack contents and crash the client. The reliable consequence is a denial of service, when the response comes from a malicious or intercepted CMP endpoint. There is no controlled memory write, arbitrary-address read, or reliable path to remote code execution. FIPS impact: no No FIPS modules are affected by this issue, as the CMP protocol implementation is outside the OpenSSL FIPS module boundary.

Affected packages & fixed versions

EcosystemPackageFixed inAdvisory
AlmaLinux:10openssl1:3.5.8-1.el10_2.alma.1ALSA-2026:67154
AlmaLinux:9openssl1:3.5.8-1.el9_8ALSA-2026:67165
AlmaLinux:10openssl-devel1:3.5.8-1.el10_2.alma.1ALSA-2026:67154
AlmaLinux:9openssl-devel1:3.5.8-1.el9_8ALSA-2026:67165
AlmaLinux:10openssl-libs1:3.5.8-1.el10_2.alma.1ALSA-2026:67154
AlmaLinux:9openssl-libs1:3.5.8-1.el9_8ALSA-2026:67165
AlmaLinux:10openssl-perl1:3.5.8-1.el10_2.alma.1ALSA-2026:67154
AlmaLinux:9openssl-perl1:3.5.8-1.el9_8ALSA-2026:67165
Alpine:v3.21openssl3.3.7-r1ALPINE-CVE-2026-63073
Alpine:v3.22openssl3.5.8-r0ALPINE-CVE-2026-63073
Alpine:v3.23openssl3.5.8-r0ALPINE-CVE-2026-63073
Alpine:v3.24openssl3.5.8-r0ALPINE-CVE-2026-63073
Debian:13openssl3.5.7-1~deb13u2DEBIAN-CVE-2026-63073
Debian:14openssl3.6.4-1DEBIAN-CVE-2026-63073
Rocky Linux:10openssl1:3.5.8-1.el10_2RLSA-2026:67154
Rocky Linux:9openssl1:3.5.8-1.el9_8RLSA-2026:67165
Ubuntu:26.04:LTSedk2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-63073
Ubuntu:26.10edk2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-63073
Ubuntu:26.04:LTSedk2-hweno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-63073
Ubuntu:26.10edk2-hweno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-63073
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSopenssl3.0.2-0ubuntu1.29USN-8678-1
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSopenssl3.0.13-0ubuntu3.15USN-8678-1
Ubuntu:26.04:LTSopenssl3.5.5-1ubuntu3.4USN-8678-1
Ubuntu:26.04:LTSopenssl3.5.5-1ubuntu3.4UBUNTU-CVE-2026-63073

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
OpenSSL OpenSSL 4.0.0 – before 4.0.23.6.0 – before 3.6.43.5.0 – before 3.5.83.4.0 – before 3.4.7

Weakness: CWE-134 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

References