NULL dereference in SSL_CIPHER_find() function on unknown cipher ID

5.9 / 10

MEDIUM

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

Description

Issue summary: If an application using the SSL_CIPHER_find() function in
a QUIC protocol client or server receives an unknown cipher suite from
the peer, a NULL dereference occurs.

Impact summary: A NULL pointer dereference leads to abnormal termination of
the running process causing Denial of Service.

Some applications call SSL_CIPHER_find() from the client_hello_cb callback
on the cipher ID received from the peer. If this is done with an SSL object
implementing the QUIC protocol, NULL pointer dereference will happen if
the examined cipher ID is unknown or unsupported.

As it is not very common to call this function in applications using the QUIC
protocol and the worst outcome is Denial of Service, the issue was assessed
as Low severity.

The vulnerable code was introduced in the 3.2 version with the addition
of the QUIC protocol support.

The FIPS modules in 3.6, 3.5, 3.4 and 3.3 are not affected by this issue,
as the QUIC implementation is outside the OpenSSL FIPS module boundary.

OpenSSL 3.6, 3.5, 3.4 and 3.3 are vulnerable to this issue.

OpenSSL 3.0, 1.1.1 and 1.0.2 are not affected by this issue.

Basic Information

ID CVE-2025-15468

Source openssl

Published Jan 27, 2026 at 16:01

Modified Jan 29, 2026 at 14:53

Affected Product

Vendor OpenSSL

Product OpenSSL

Version 3.6.0

Affected Versions OpenSSL OpenSSL 3.6.0
OpenSSL OpenSSL 3.5.0
OpenSSL OpenSSL 3.4.0
OpenSSL OpenSSL 3.3.0

CWE Classification

CWE-476

References

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    "lastseen": "",
    "description": "Issue summary: If an application using the SSL_CIPHER_find() function in\na QUIC protocol client or server receives an unknown cipher suite from\nthe peer, a NULL dereference occurs.\n\nImpact summary: A NULL pointer dereference leads to abnormal termination of\nthe running process causing Denial of Service.\n\nSome applications call SSL_CIPHER_find() from the client_hello_cb callback\non the cipher ID received from the peer. If this is done with an SSL object\nimplementing the QUIC protocol, NULL pointer dereference will happen if\nthe examined cipher ID is unknown or unsupported.\n\nAs it is not very common to call this function in applications using the QUIC \nprotocol and the worst outcome is Denial of Service, the issue was assessed\nas Low severity.\n\nThe vulnerable code was introduced in the 3.2 version with the addition\nof the QUIC protocol support.\n\nThe FIPS modules in 3.6, 3.5, 3.4 and 3.3 are not affected by this issue,\nas the QUIC implementation is outside the OpenSSL FIPS module boundary.\n\nOpenSSL 3.6, 3.5, 3.4 and 3.3 are vulnerable to this issue.\n\nOpenSSL 3.0, 1.1.1 and 1.0.2 are not affected by this issue.",
    "published": "2026-01-27T16:01:20.824Z",
    "modified": "2026-01-29T14:53:03.572Z",
    "type": "cve",
    "title": "NULL dereference in SSL_CIPHER_find() function on unknown cipher ID",
    "source": "openssl",
    "references": "https://openssl-library.org/news/secadv/20260127.txt\nhttps://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/b2539639400288a4580fe2d76247541b976bade4\nhttps://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/1f08e54bad32843044fe8a675948d65e3b4ece65\nhttps://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/7c88376731c589ee5b36116c5a6e32d5ae5f7ae2\nhttps://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/d75b309879631d45b972396ce4e5102559c64ac7",
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NULL dereference in SSL_CIPHER_find() function on unknown cipher ID_CVE-2025-15468