CVE-2026-63076: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-r3hf-pf7x-wgqg
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-476
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-63076 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) security vulnerability vulnerability (CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference) affecting Software libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The weakness occurs when the product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is null.. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2026-63076 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-63076
GHSA Identifier GHSA-r3hf-pf7x-wgqg
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference
Affected Product Software
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2026-63076

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Software dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

mvn dependency:tree

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2026-63076, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Software in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference, where the product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is null. In Software, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

Issue summary: OpenSSL CMP password based protection verification only checks whether the protectionAlg parameter was not NULL and not its ASN.1 type, before treating it as a PBMParameter. A crafted message can contain a parameter of a different type, which is then dereferenced as an invalid pointer. Impact summary: A remote, unauthenticated attacker can crash an application acting as a CMP server that accepts PBM-protected messages, or a CMP client talking to a malicious or intercepted CMP server, resulting in a Denial of Service. CWE: CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference Description: When verifying the password-based MAC protection of a CMP message, OpenSSL library reads the protectionAlg algorithm parameter with X509_ALGOR_get0(), which returns both the parameter type and its value pointer. The value is then cast to an ASN1_STRING and treated as the expected PBMParameter after only checking that pointer is not NULL. The parameter type returned by X509_ALGOR_get0() was never consulted. This happens during protection verification, before any MAC is computed, so no knowledge of the PBM shared secret is required; the only precondition is that PBM verification is reachable. On the server side this is reached from OSSL_CMP_SRV_process_request() for any application that stands up a CMP server accepting PBM-protected messages, and on the client side from CMP response validation against a malicious or on-path (MITM) server. The reliable consequence is a denial of service; there is no memory disclosure, no controlled memory write, and no path to code execution. CMP is a specialized feature that an application must explicitly enable. FIPS impact: no As the CMP code lives outside the FIPS module boundary, no FIPS modules are affected by this CVE.

References

NVD — CVE-2026-63076 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-63076
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/37882aa2e0256e1072442a8f62f7db45b995c45b
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/a17cc8d612ecff6d94a9b7ca8b5283ddf5ff570e
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/a1f348ccb328c3afbd4ba6883f9b7c813c043259
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/a7af46a92d0ce19a90e669ef56d2576a07924226
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/cdacfff557389abfa9e4615abded2ec984517d6c
openssl-library.org/news/secadv/2026082... WEB
https://openssl-library.org/news/secadv/20260825.txt

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-63076?
CVE-2026-63076 is a security vulnerability in Software classified as a security vulnerability vulnerability under CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference.
Which Software versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches.
What version fixes CVE-2026-63076?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-63076?
CVE-2026-63076 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-63076?
CVE-2026-63076 is classified under CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference (The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2026-63076?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-r3hf-pf7x-wgqg",
  "modified" : "2026-08-25T15:32:59Z",
  "published" : "2026-08-25T15:32:58Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-63076" ],
  "details" : "Issue summary: OpenSSL CMP password based protection verification only\nchecks whether the protectionAlg parameter was not NULL and not its\nASN.1 type, before treating it as a PBMParameter. A crafted message can\ncontain a parameter of a different type, which is then dereferenced as an\ninvalid pointer.\n\nImpact summary: A remote, unauthenticated attacker can crash an application\nacting as a CMP server that accepts PBM-protected messages, or a CMP client\ntalking to a malicious or intercepted CMP server, resulting in a Denial of\nService.\n\nCWE: CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference\n\nDescription: When verifying the password-based MAC protection of a CMP\nmessage, OpenSSL library reads the protectionAlg algorithm parameter with\nX509_ALGOR_get0(), which returns both the parameter type and its value\npointer. The value is then cast to an ASN1_STRING and treated as the\nexpected PBMParameter after only checking that pointer is not NULL. The\nparameter type returned by X509_ALGOR_get0() was never consulted.\n\nThis happens during protection verification, before any MAC is computed, so\nno knowledge of the PBM shared secret is required; the only precondition is\nthat PBM verification is reachable. On the server side this is reached from\nOSSL_CMP_SRV_process_request() for any application that stands up a CMP\nserver accepting PBM-protected messages, and on the client side from CMP\nresponse validation against a malicious or on-path (MITM) server. The\nreliable consequence is a denial of service; there is no memory disclosure,\nno controlled memory write, and no path to code execution. CMP is a\nspecialized feature that an application must explicitly enable.\n\nFIPS impact: no\nAs the CMP code lives outside the FIPS module boundary, no FIPS modules\nare affected by this CVE.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-63076"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/37882aa2e0256e1072442a8f62f7db45b995c45b"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/a17cc8d612ecff6d94a9b7ca8b5283ddf5ff570e"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/a1f348ccb328c3afbd4ba6883f9b7c813c043259"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/a7af46a92d0ce19a90e669ef56d2576a07924226"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/cdacfff557389abfa9e4615abded2ec984517d6c"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://openssl-library.org/news/secadv/20260825.txt"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-476" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : false,
    "github_reviewed_at" : null,
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-08-25T13:19:26Z"
  }
}