CVE-2023-6681Network attack vector

Service interruption via unbounded PBES2 iteration count

Published Feb 12, 2024 · Updated Feb 26, 2026

Resource exhaustion in JWCrypto before 1.5.1 allows remote attackers to interrupt services by submitting a crafted JWE. The PBES2 key-unwrapping path passes the attacker-controlled p2c header value directly to PBKDF2 without limiting its iteration count. Exposure requires an application that accepts untrusted JWE input and enables a PBES2 algorithm; each request can monopolize CPU during key derivation.

CVSS severity5.3
Medium
EPSS probability0.88%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Resource exhaustion in JWCrypto before 1.5.1 allows remote attackers to interrupt services by submitting a crafted JWE. The PBES2 key-unwrapping path passes the attacker-controlled p2c header value directly to PBKDF2 without limiting its iteration count. Exposure requires an application that accepts untrusted JWE input and enables a PBES2 algorithm; each request can monopolize CPU during key derivation.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-6681
Published
Feb 12, 2024
Updated
Feb 26, 2026
Vendor
Red Hat
Product
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
Classifications
CWE-400, T1499
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 12, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Feb 26, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected versions are unavailable in this record. Check the vendor advisory for version and patch details.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8Affected versions are unavailable in this record.
Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9Affected versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

5.3Red Hat, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

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-400Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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