Service interruption via forced DHE computation
Published Nov 11, 2021 · Updated Feb 13, 2025
Resource exhaustion in the Diffie-Hellman Key Agreement Protocol allows remote attackers to interrupt DHE-enabled services. A client submits arbitrary non-public-key values that force the server to perform costly modular exponentiation with little reciprocal work. The service must accept finite-field DHE and let the client negotiate it; repeated handshakes can saturate server CPU and deny service without affecting data.
Summary
What happened
Resource exhaustion in the Diffie-Hellman Key Agreement Protocol allows remote attackers to interrupt DHE-enabled services. A client submits arbitrary non-public-key values that force the server to perform costly modular exponentiation with little reciprocal work. The service must accept finite-field DHE and let the client negotiate it; repeated handshakes can saturate server CPU and deny service without affecting data.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2002-20001
- Published
- Nov 11, 2021
- Updated
- Feb 13, 2025
- Vendor
- Unknown vendor
- Product
- Unknown product
- Classifications
- CWE-400, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Nov 11, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Feb 13, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- D(HE)aterproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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