CVE-2025-11187: Issue summary: PBMAC1 parameters in PKCS#12 files are missing validation which can trigger a stack-based buffer overflow, invalid pointer or NULL poin...

Description

Issue summary: PBMAC1 parameters in PKCS#12 files are missing validation which can trigger a stack-based buffer overflow, invalid pointer or NULL pointer dereference during MAC verification. Impact summary: The stack buffer overflow or NULL pointer dereference may cause a crash leading to Denial of Service for an application that parses untrusted PKCS#12 files. The buffer overflow may also potentially enable code execution depending on platform mitigations. When verifying a PKCS#12 file that uses PBMAC1 for the MAC, the PBKDF2 salt and keylength parameters from the file are used without validation. If the value of keylength exceeds the size of the fixed stack buffer used for the derived key (64 bytes), the key derivation will overflow the buffer. The overflow length is attacker-controlled. Also, if the salt parameter is not an OCTET STRING type this can lead to invalid or NULL pointer dereference. Exploiting this issue requires a user or application to process a maliciously crafted PKCS#12 file. It is uncommon to accept untrusted PKCS#12 files in applications as they are usually used to store private keys which are trusted by definition. For this reason the issue was assessed as Moderate severity. The FIPS modules in 3.6, 3.5 and 3.4 are not affected by this issue, as PKCS#12 processing is outside the OpenSSL FIPS module boundary. OpenSSL 3.6, 3.5 and 3.4 are vulnerable to this issue. OpenSSL 3.3, 3.0, 1.1.1 and 1.0.2 are not affected by this issue as they do not support PBMAC1 in PKCS#12.

Metrics

CVSS 3.1

6.1/10

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

EPSS Probability

0.52%

39.9th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Weakness Enumeration

Affected Software

Vendor	Product	Versions
Openssl	Openssl	>= 3.4.0, < 3.4.4
Openssl	Openssl	>= 3.5.0, < 3.5.5
Openssl	Openssl	>= 3.6.0, < 3.6.1

References

Timeline

Published: Jan 27, 2026
Last Modified: Jun 17, 2026
Status: Modified

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-11187?

Issue summary: PBMAC1 parameters in PKCS#12 files are missing validation which can trigger a stack-based buffer overflow, invalid pointer or NULL pointer dereference during MAC verification. Impact summary: The stack buffer overflow or NULL pointer dereference may cause a crash leading to Denial of Service for an application that parses untrusted PKCS#12 files. The buffer overflow may also potentially enable code execution depending on platform mitigations. When verifying a PKCS#12 file that uses PBMAC1 for the MAC, the PBKDF2 salt and keylength parameters from the file are used without validation. If the value of keylength exceeds the size of the fixed stack buffer used for the derived key (64 bytes), the key derivation will overflow the buffer. The overflow length is attacker-controlled. Also, if the salt parameter is not an OCTET STRING type this can lead to invalid or NULL pointer dereference. Exploiting this issue requires a user or application to process a maliciously crafted PKCS#12 file. It is uncommon to accept untrusted PKCS#12 files in applications as they are usually used to store private keys which are trusted by definition. For this reason the issue was assessed as Moderate severity. The FIPS modules in 3.6, 3.5 and 3.4 are not affected by this issue, as PKCS#12 processing is outside the OpenSSL FIPS module boundary. OpenSSL 3.6, 3.5 and 3.4 are vulnerable to this issue. OpenSSL 3.3, 3.0, 1.1.1 and 1.0.2 are not affected by this issue as they do not support PBMAC1 in PKCS#12.

How severe is CVE-2025-11187?

CVE-2025-11187 has a CVSS score of 6.1/10 (MEDIUM severity). The EPSS model estimates a 0.52% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

How do I fix CVE-2025-11187?

Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.

How Strix Helps

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