CVE-2026-14957
FIPS mode assertion failure via malicious CERT payload
Description
In FIPS mode, Libreswan's add_decoded_cert() function calls CERT_ExtractPublicKey() and asserts that the result is not NULL. However, CERT_ExtractPublicKey() returns NULL when public key extraction fails, for example if the RSA exponent is set to 0. A remote attacker can send a malformed X.509 certificate in a CERT payload to trigger the assertion, causing the pluto daemon to abort and restart. Continued exploitation causes a denial of service. No remote code execution is possible. Both IKEv1 and IKEv2 are affected. The vulnerability is only exploitable when both the OS and libreswan are running in FIPS mode and at least one CA certificate is loaded. The CERT payload is processed before peer authentication, so no credentials are needed to exploit this. Configurations using only PreSharedKey (PSK) authentication with no CA certificates loaded in the NSS database are not vulnerable.
CVSS Vector Breakdown
AV:NAttack VectorAC:LAttack ComplexityPR:NPrivileges RequiredUI:NUser InteractionS:UScopeC:NConfidentialityI:NIntegrityA:HAvailabilityWeaknesses
Affected Products
Exploitability
Exploit details including PoC links, Metasploit modules, and scanner templates are available after registration.
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MITRE ATT&CK
1 techniqueReferences
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