OpenSSL 3.2.0 < 3.2.6 Multiple Vulnerabilities

medium Nessus Plugin ID 266319

Synopsis

The remote service is affected by multiple vulnerabilities.

Description

The version of OpenSSL installed on the remote host is prior to 3.2.6. It is, therefore, affected by multiple vulnerabilities as referenced in the 3.2.6 advisory.

- Issue summary: A timing side-channel which could potentially allow remote recovery of the private key exists in the SM2 algorithm implementation on 64 bit ARM platforms. Impact summary: A timing side-channel in SM2 signature computations on 64 bit ARM platforms could allow recovering the private key by an attacker.. While remote key recovery over a network was not attempted by the reporter, timing measurements revealed a timing signal which may allow such an attack. OpenSSL does not directly support certificates with SM2 keys in TLS, and so this CVE is not relevant in most TLS contexts. However, given that it is possible to add support for such certificates via a custom provider, coupled with the fact that in such a custom provider context the private key may be recoverable via remote timing measurements, we consider this to be a Moderate severity issue. The FIPS modules in 3.5, 3.4, 3.3, 3.2, 3.1 and 3.0 are not affected by this issue, as SM2 is not an approved algorithm. (CVE-2025-9231)

- Issue summary: An application using the OpenSSL HTTP client API functions may trigger an out-of-bounds read if the 'no_proxy' environment variable is set and the host portion of the authority component of the HTTP URL is an IPv6 address. Impact summary: An out-of-bounds read can trigger a crash which leads to Denial of Service for an application. The OpenSSL HTTP client API functions can be used directly by applications but they are also used by the OCSP client functions and CMP (Certificate Management Protocol) client implementation in OpenSSL. However the URLs used by these implementations are unlikely to be controlled by an attacker. In this vulnerable code the out of bounds read can only trigger a crash.
Furthermore the vulnerability requires an attacker-controlled URL to be passed from an application to the OpenSSL function and the user has to have a 'no_proxy' environment variable set. For the aforementioned reasons the issue was assessed as Low severity. The vulnerable code was introduced in the following patch releases: 3.0.16, 3.1.8, 3.2.4, 3.3.3, 3.4.0 and 3.5.0. The FIPS modules in 3.5, 3.4, 3.3, 3.2, 3.1 and 3.0 are not affected by this issue, as the HTTP client implementation is outside the OpenSSL FIPS module boundary. (CVE-2025-9232)

- Issue summary: An application trying to decrypt CMS messages encrypted using password based encryption can trigger an out-of-bounds read and write. Impact summary: This out-of-bounds read may trigger a crash which leads to Denial of Service for an application. The out-of-bounds write can cause a memory corruption which can have various consequences including a Denial of Service or Execution of attacker-supplied code.
Although the consequences of a successful exploit of this vulnerability could be severe, the probability that the attacker would be able to perform it is low. Besides, password based (PWRI) encryption support in CMS messages is very rarely used. For that reason the issue was assessed as Moderate severity according to our Security Policy. The FIPS modules in 3.5, 3.4, 3.3, 3.2, 3.1 and 3.0 are not affected by this issue, as the CMS implementation is outside the OpenSSL FIPS module boundary. (CVE-2025-9230)

Note that Nessus has not tested for these issues but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

Solution

Upgrade to OpenSSL version 3.2.6 or later.

See Also

http://www.nessus.org/u?eac4598c

https://openssl-library.org/news/secadv/20250930.txt

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-9230

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-9231

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-9232

http://www.nessus.org/u?0148a6d7

http://www.nessus.org/u?62ce51cc

http://www.nessus.org/u?6f8cd955

Plugin Details

Severity: Medium

ID: 266319

File Name: openssl_3_2_6.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: combined

Agent: windows, macosx, unix

Family: Web Servers

Published: 10/1/2025

Updated: 10/1/2025

Configuration: Enable thorough checks (optional)

Supported Sensors: Nessus Agent, Continuous Assessment, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 4.4

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 4.3

Temporal Score: 3.2

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2025-9231

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 5.9

Temporal Score: 5.2

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/a:openssl:openssl

Required KB Items: installed_sw/OpenSSL

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 9/30/2025

Vulnerability Publication Date: 9/30/2025

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2025-9230, CVE-2025-9231, CVE-2025-9232