CVE-2023-6129
MEDIUMEPSS 82th pctlDescription
Issue summary: The POLY1305 MAC (message authentication code) implementation contains a bug that might corrupt the internal state of applications running on PowerPC CPU based platforms if the CPU provides vector instructions. Impact summary: If an attacker can influence whether the POLY1305 MAC algorithm is used, the application state might be corrupted with various application dependent consequences. The POLY1305 MAC (message authentication code) implementation in OpenSSL for PowerPC CPUs restores the contents of vector registers in a different order than they are saved. Thus the contents of some of these vector registers are corrupted when returning to the caller. The vulnerable code is used only on newer PowerPC processors supporting the PowerISA 2.07 instructions. The consequences of this kind of internal application state corruption can be various - from no consequences, if the calling application does not depend on the contents of non-volatile XMM registers at all, to the worst consequences, where the attacker could get complete control of the application process. However unless the compiler uses the vector registers for storing pointers, the most likely consequence, if any, would be an incorrect result of some application dependent calculations or a crash leading to a denial of service. The POLY1305 MAC algorithm is most frequently used as part of the CHACHA20-POLY1305 AEAD (authenticated encryption with associated data) algorithm. The most common usage of this AEAD cipher is with TLS protocol versions 1.2 and 1.3. If this cipher is enabled on the server a malicious client can influence whether this AEAD cipher is used. This implies that TLS server applications using OpenSSL can be potentially impacted. However we are currently not aware of any concrete application that would be affected by this issue therefore we consider this a Low severity security issue.
How to fix
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Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.
CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H
Exploit Intelligence
Elevated risk: more likely to be exploited than 82% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-440 vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2019-5108 | Medium | 6.5 | 10% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2021-41035 | Critical | 9.8 | 1.7% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2018-12550 | High | 8.1 | 1.4% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2019-6569 | Critical | 9.1 | 1.3% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2023-2088 | Medium | 6.5 | 1.2% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2019-5061 | Medium | 6.5 | 0.9% | - | Fix |
Common questions
How do I fix CVE-2023-6129?
Published advisories record a fix for 38 affected products. The "How to fix" section on this page lists the fixed version and source advisory for each one, so apply the entry matching what you actually run.
Is CVE-2023-6129 being actively exploited?
Not that we know of. CVE-2023-6129 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 2.3% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 82% of all scored CVEs.
How severe is CVE-2023-6129?
CVE-2023-6129 has a CVSS v3 base score of 6.5, rated medium. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.
What does CVE-2023-6129 affect?
Published advisories record a fix for openssl (Debian), edk2 (Rocky), edk2 (Red Hat / RHEL), edk2-aarch64 (Rocky), and 34 more. Only products with a sourced advisory are listed, so treat this as what we can cite rather than a complete inventory.
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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2026-05-12.