CVE Tools

CVE-2023-3817

Excessive time spent checking DH q parameter value

Published: Jul 31, 2023Updated: May 5, 2025 Sources: CVE List NVD BDU csafCWE-606
5.3CVSSMEDIUM

Description

Issue summary: Checking excessively long DH keys or parameters may be very slow. Impact summary: Applications that use the functions DH_check(), DH_check_ex() or EVP_PKEY_param_check() to check a DH key or DH parameters may experience long delays. Where the key or parameters that are being checked have been obtained from an untrusted source this may lead to a Denial of Service. The function DH_check() performs various checks on DH parameters. After fixing CVE-2023-3446 it was discovered that a large q parameter value can also trigger an overly long computation during some of these checks. A correct q value, if present, cannot be larger than the modulus p parameter, thus it is unnecessary to perform these checks if q is larger than p. An application that calls DH_check() and supplies a key or parameters obtained from an untrusted source could be vulnerable to a Denial of Service attack. The function DH_check() is itself called by a number of other OpenSSL functions. An application calling any of those other functions may similarly be affected. The other functions affected by this are DH_check_ex() and EVP_PKEY_param_check(). Also vulnerable are the OpenSSL dhparam and pkeyparam command line applications when using the "-check" option. The OpenSSL SSL/TLS implementation is not affected by this issue. The OpenSSL 3.0 and 3.1 FIPS providers are not affected by this issue.

CVSS Vector Breakdown

AV:NAC:LPR:NUI:NS:UC:NI:NA:L
Exploitability
AV:NAttack Vector
Network
AC:LAttack Complexity
Low
PR:NPrivileges Required
None
UI:NUser Interaction
None
Scope
S:UScope
Unchanged
Impact
C:NConfidentiality
None
I:NIntegrity
None
A:LAvailability
Low

Weaknesses

Affected Products

openssloss-projectUSOSS Librariesaka open ssl
red hat inc.commercialUSOperating Systemsaka red hat
and 31 more affected products View all →

Attack Graph

Products CVE Techniques Tactics

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Exploitability

Official Patch Available

MITRE ATT&CK

1 technique
Impact
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References

and 47 more references View all →

Timeline

Published
Jul 31, 2023
Last Updated
May 5, 2025

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