Certtool crash via unchecked certificate-chain length
Published Mar 21, 2024 · Updated Jul 3, 2026
Denial of service in GnuTLS 3.8.3 allows local users to crash certtool by verifying a crafted PEM certificate chain. gnutls_x509_trust_list_verify_crt2 copies every certificate pointer into a fixed 16-entry array without checking cert_list_size. Exploitation requires local command execution and attacker-controlled certificate input; the bounded consequence is termination of the verifying process.
Summary
What happened
Denial of service in GnuTLS 3.8.3 allows local users to crash certtool by verifying a crafted PEM certificate chain. gnutls_x509_trust_list_verify_crt2 copies every certificate pointer into a fixed 16-entry array without checking cert_list_size. Exploitation requires local command execution and attacker-controlled certificate input; the bounded consequence is termination of the verifying process.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-28835
- Published
- Mar 21, 2024
- Updated
- Jul 3, 2026
- Vendor
- Red Hat
- Product
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Classifications
- CWE-248, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Mar 21, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jul 3, 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?
What is affected?
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.
Public exploit references
- GnuTLS issue 1525 PEM crash reproducerproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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