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CVE Record

CVE-2023-6237: Excessive time spent checking invalid RSA public keys

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.

MediumCVSS 5.9Not KEV-listedUpdated
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysis

Security readout for executives and security teams

CVE-2023-6237 can make some OpenSSL-based software spend excessive time checking malformed RSA public keys. The business impact is denial of service, not data theft. Exposure depends on whether applications validate untrusted RSA public keys with the affected OpenSSL function or tool options. Likely exposure is narrow: OpenSSL 3.0.0, 3.1.0, and 3.2.0 deployments where code or operations explicitly check untrusted RSA public keys. The OpenSSL 3.0 and 3.1 FIPS providers are affected. TLS services are not affected merely because they use OpenSSL. Treat as a targeted availability risk. Prioritize systems that process customer- or partner-supplied public keys, certificate material, or validation jobs. Routine TLS endpoints are lower priority based on the OpenSSL advisory. Mitigation focus: Upgrade affected OpenSSL branches to vendor-fixed versions where applicable: 3.0.13, 3.1.5, or 3.2.1.; Avoid checking RSA public keys from untrusted sources until patched.; Do not run OpenSSL pkey -pubin -check on untrusted inputs on affected versions..

Prepared

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

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CVE-2023-6237 mapping review

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Medium
CVSS
5.9 (3.1)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

1CVSS vectors
3Timeline events
3ADP providers
10Source links

SSVC decision data

CISA-ADPCISA Coordinator
Timestamp
Version
2.0.3
Exploitation: noneAutomatable: noTechnical Impact: partial

CVSS vector scores

1 official score

We collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
5.9CVSS 3.1MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H2.23.6CISA-ADP

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.1 score

5.9Medium
CVSS 3.1 vector shape for CVE-2023-6237Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NoneRequired
Scope
ChangedUnchanged
Confidentiality Impact
HighLowNone
Integrity Impact
HighLowNone
Availability Impact
HighLowNone

Vulnerability timeline

Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.

  1. CVE reservedCVE Program

    The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.

  2. CVE publishedCVE Program

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  3. CVE updatedCVE Program

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ADP provider summaries

CVECVE Program Container
CISA-ADPCISA ADP Vulnrichment
cvssV3_1other:ssvc
siemens-SADPADP container

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
OpenSSLOpenSSL3.0.0, 3.1.0, 3.2.0unaffected
Weakness

CWE details

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CWE-606 · source CWE mapping

Unchecked Input for Loop Condition

Unchecked Input for Loop Condition represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.