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OpenSSL CVE-2026-63073

| EUVDEUVD-2026-65483 CRITICAL
Use of Externally-Controlled Format String (CWE-134)
2026-08-25 openssl-security@openssl.org GHSA-826x-qg76-xqjx
Critical
Disputed · 9.8 Vendor: openssl
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Severity by source

Sources disagree (Low–Critical)
Vendor (openssl) PRIMARY
9.8 CRITICAL
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
vuln.today AI
7.5 HIGH

Network-reachable via a malicious/MITM CMP endpoint with no client auth (PR:N, UI:N), but vendor confirms crash-only impact, so C:N/I:N/A:H rather than the supplied C:H/I:H/A:H.

3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
SUSE
4.7 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Red Hat
5.9 LOW
qualitative

vuln.today treats the vendor’s rating as authoritative. A higher third-party CVSS (e.g. CISA-ADP) is shown for transparency but does not drive the headline severity.

CVSS VectorVendor: openssl

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

7
Metadata Corrected
Aug 31, 2026 - 22:40 vuln.today
tag: RCE removed
Source Code Evidence Fetched
Aug 31, 2026 - 22:36 vuln.today
Analysis Generated
Aug 31, 2026 - 22:36 vuln.today
CVSS changed
Aug 31, 2026 - 20:22 NVD
9.8 (CRITICAL)
Patch available
Aug 25, 2026 - 15:01 EUVD
CVE Published
Aug 25, 2026 - 13:19 cve.org
CRITICAL 9.8
CVE Published
Aug 25, 2026 - 13:19 cve.org
UNKNOWN (no severity yet)

DescriptionCVE.org

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.

AnalysisAI

Denial of service in OpenSSL's CMP (Certificate Management Protocol) client affects versions 3.4.x, 3.5.x, 3.6.x and 4.0.x, where ossl_cmp_msg_check_update() passes a peer-supplied sender distinguished name directly as a format string to ERR_raise_data(). A malicious or intercepted CMP server can return a sender DN containing format specifiers (e.g. …

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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata

Access
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Vulnerability AssessmentAI

Exploitation Exploitation requires (1) the victim to be running an OpenSSL CMP client that validates server responses AND is configured to enforce an expected sender or to pin a server certificate whose subject becomes the default expected sender - this is the code path that reaches ossl_cmp_msg_check_update(); and (2) the attacker to control the responding CMP endpoint, either by operating a malicious CMP server or by intercepting/MITM'ing the CMP exchange. … Additional conditions and limiting factors are described in the full assessment.
Risk Assessment The input CVSS of 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/C:H/I:H/A:H) overstates real risk and conflicts with the vendor's own impact analysis. … Full risk analysis with EPSS, KEV, and SSVC signal comparison available after sign-in.
Exploit Scenario Full exploit scenario with step-by-step reproduction available after sign-in.
Remediation Vendor-released patch: upgrade to OpenSSL 3.4.7, 3.5.8, 3.6.4, or 4.0.2 depending on your branch (fixes delivered in commits 0cc20b32, 6a0acc07, 7eb2e3ec, and a7e5a6ee), as described in the OpenSSL advisory at https://openssl-library.org/news/secadv/20260825.txt. … Detailed patch versions, workarounds, and compensating controls in full report.

Recommended ActionAI

Within 24 hours, identify all systems running OpenSSL 3.4.x, 3.5.x, 3.6.x, or 4.0.x that utilize CMP functionality, and review network segmentation for certificate management infrastructure to assess exposure. …

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Threat intelligence, references, and detailed analysis are available after sign-in.

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Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

Severity: Moderate
Product Status
openSUSE Tumbleweed Fixed
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 Affected

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CVE-2026-63073 vulnerability details – vuln.today

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