CVE-2021-43172Network attack vector

Validation stall via unbounded CA chain traversal

Published Nov 9, 2021 · Updated Sep 16, 2024

Uncontrolled recursion in NLnet Labs Routinator 0.10.1 and earlier allows remote attackers to stall RPKI validation via malicious CA chains. The validation engine follows each child CA into its chosen RRDP repository without limiting certificate-chain depth, so an endlessly extended hierarchy never completes. The attacker must control an RPKI CA and publish successive child CAs that point to different RRDP repositories; Routinator then serves stale data or, on its initial run, no data.

CVSS severity7.5
High
EPSS probability1.26%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Uncontrolled recursion in NLnet Labs Routinator 0.10.1 and earlier allows remote attackers to stall RPKI validation via malicious CA chains. The validation engine follows each child CA into its chosen RRDP repository without limiting certificate-chain depth, so an endlessly extended hierarchy never completes. The attacker must control an RPKI CA and publish successive child CAs that point to different RRDP repositories; Routinator then serves stale data or, on its initial run, no data.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-43172
Published
Nov 9, 2021
Updated
Sep 16, 2024
Vendor
NLnet Labs
Product
Routinator
Classifications
CWE-674, CWE-835, T1499
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Nov 9, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 16, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=unspecified <=0.10.1

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

NLnet Labs · Routinatorversion=unspecified <=0.10.1

Published CVSS scores

5.0NIST NVDAV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
7.5GitHub Advisory DatabaseCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
7.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-674Uncontrolled Recursion
CWE-835Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')
T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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